ZMC Health Department to Host 5th Annual Afternoon of Remembrance

ZANESVILLE, OH – The Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department is getting ready for an event to remember those lost to overdose and addiction.

The 5th annual Afternoon of Remembrance will be held at 2PM in front of the Muskingum County Courthouse on Sunday, August 31st.

Monica Batteiger, the Family Advocate at the Health Department, says they host the Afternoon of Remembrance every year on International Overdose Awareness Day for families who have lost someone.

“This year we’re going to have some guest speakers, we’ll have somebody there just to talk about the Good Samaritan Law.” Batteiger said. “We will also have a local EMS who does respond to overdoses to bring some education as well. We will take the pavers families have decorated and we will have them on display on the 31st, as well, and we’ll just have a moment of silence.”

Batteiger says this day is meant for families to come together to honor and remember those who have lost their battle with addiction.

“This is their day.” Batteiger said. “This is a day of Remembrance for the ones they’ve lost. Somebody is everybody’s somebody, right? So that is why it’s important, for us, to keep it on the 31st, is International Overdose Awareness Day and so we do understand, it is a Sunday, but that is those families day, so we make sure to keep it there for those families for the loved ones to honor the ones they’ve lost.”

For more information about the Afternoon of Remembrance, you can head to the Health Department’s Facebook page.