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End Overdose's chapter program is vital to our success in equipping young people with lifesaving education and resources. Rather than proselytizing from a soapbox to Gen-Z and Millennials, we trust young people in cities and on college campuses to spread the word through a true peer-to-peer model. With 50 chapters nationwide, our members and volunteers are committing endless hours to End Overdose's cause, so we want to highlight a chapter every week.
Today, we're proud to highlight our chapter at UC Riverside! We spoke with chapter president Brian Wong about fundraisers, cultivating community, and more.
What sparked your interest in overdose prevention/response and End Overdose in particular?
Community service has always been something that has been a large pillar in my life. Growing up in the Los Angeles area and volunteering on Skid Row, I was surrounded by the long term issues around drug use and drug overdoses. As I got older and I started to be around the EDM music scene more I also got more exposure to the dangers around recreational drug use. End Overdose stuck out to me as an organization that had a mission to truly make an impact on the dangers through providing preventative measures and responsive measures that combat drug overdoses and help prevent very preventable deaths.
Can you describe your experience as chapter president of UCR?
My experience as president has been great. I have had the opportunity to watch End Overdose's chapter program go from just a few chapters in California to going fully nationwide. The friendships both with people at HQ and with people within the UCR chapter are some that I am beyond grateful for and being a part of such a strong team that pushes to help make an impact in the world has no parallel. The team that we have at UCR have always been willing to help with HQ events and have all been people who I look up to and rely heavily on. Our chapter's success is directly derived from the selflessness of our members and the support that they provide to one another. I could not be more proud to be a part of our team.
How have you developed authentic connections within the community?
Absolutely, whether it be with the music industry through volunteering with events to local outreach in the Riverside area, there have been so many opportunities to find real connections with real people. Just being able to hear stories from people's experiences around overdose has really opened my eyes to the impact that we have as a whole on the communities that we hold so close.
What’re the major highlights from your chapter’s work to date?
The major highlights from our chapter's work is that we can proudly say that we have trained over 40 different on campus organizations, multiple times as new members join. Additionally, we have hosted numerous on-campus community trainings and partnered with our school's student government. Lastly, our team's commitment to HQ events, it is rare that you can go to a SoCal event and not see someone from the UCR Chapter there training. I would confidently say that UCR has some of the strongest rapid trainers in the game.
What do you envision for the future of your chapter?
As far as the future of the chapter, I can see our chapter really tapping into the Riverside local community more. Being where we are in the Inland Empire there are a lot of opportunities surrounding UCR that can be tackled. We have already been able to be at the Riverside Free Clinic and I believe the more that we are able to stretch out into the locals of the Inland Empire the more we can make a change and help prevent the loss of life.