Los Alamos High School Key Club President Rebecca Li, right, on behalf of the LAHS Key Club, presents a check to JJAB Executive Director Rachel Mohr-Richards for the ‘How to Save a Life’ presentation. Courtesy/LAHS

Key Clubbers raising money for fentanyl harm reduction. Courtesy/LAHS

LAHS News: 

Early in her term as President of the Los Alamos High School Key Club, Rebecca Li listened to the school resource officer talk of the dangers of fentanyl and the resultant deaths of young people.

The LAHS Key Clubbers are part of the Southwest District of Key Club International, and while the district Governor wanted local clubs to contribute to a fine resource for troubled teens, Erika’s Lighthouse, Rebecca wanted the LAHS club to contribute to a more local prevention effort.

Last summer the Key Clubbers sold cotton candy during the summer concerts at the pond and at the Fourth of July fireworks. The students collected $400 to $600 in sales every time, eventually earning thousands of dollars. Knowing that Rebecca wanted to support a local fentanyl harm reduction effort, Morrie Pongratz put her in contact with Rachel Mohr-Richards, the Executive Director of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Board (JJAB). Rachel agreed to help the students and they then met with Jessica Strong, the Los Alamos County Social Services Director. The attached photo shows the sign at the cotton candy tent.

Through several summer and fall meetings with Rachel, Jessica and LAHS National Honor Society leaders, the Key Clubbers developed a plan to increase student awareness of the fentanyl danger and reduce the harm caused by fentanyl. They called it “How to Save a Life.”

This ambitious plan involved inviting students to attend a forum at our local theater where they would be given containers of Narcan, a naloxone nasal spray, an over-the-counter opioid overdose treatment. Forum speakers would teach students how to administer the Narcan and give personal stories of loss due to fentanyl. 

But how do you get students to attend? The students had an answer in prize incentives and food, of course. The “How to Save a Life” event was successful beyond their wildest dreams. About 100 containers of Narcan were distributed.

At a Key Club meeting Feb. 22 the Key Clubbers presented Rachel and JJAB with a check for $3,000 as their share of the cost to present “How to Save a Life.”

School and community leaders meeting with Key Club President Rebecca Li, center, to plan ‘How to Save a Life’ program. Courtesy/LAHS