For Immediate Release
Contact: Travis Morehouse
tmorehouse@tcvermont.org
802-760-8618
JOHNSON — Vermont Adult & Teen Challenge will launch a holiday matching fund drive to raise money for its addiction recovery and rehabilitation centers for men and women in the state.
The fund drive will be held Dec. 1-31, with a pledge extension available through January.
Vermont Adult & Teen Challenge leaders
It is hoped to raise $50,000, with a dollar-for dollar fund drive match pledged by a generous anonymous donor.
It is the latest effort in the mission of Vermont Adult & Teen Challenge to combat drug and alcohol addiction in the state for both men, and women who are also victims of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. Senior Director Rick Welch comments “This is an extremely important fundraiser for VT Adult and Teen Challenge, it gives us the opportunity to change and save lives. The holiday matching fund drive is needed more than ever to tackle rising opioid and other drug-related deaths nationwide and in Vermont. We are very grateful for all of the support we receive, at any level of giving.”
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, opioid- and fentanyl-related deaths killed nearly 100,000 Americans nationally, in the year ended March 2021.
Vermont had 34 more opioid overdose deaths in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2020, and ended 2020 with 157 opioid overdose deaths, more than any year since 2010.
Much of the impact of substance abuse is discussed in a recent video by founder Pastor Rick Welch and senior staff members of Vermont Adult & Teen Challenge, titled “Sound Familiar?” The video can be viewed here.
Funds raised by the holiday matching fund drive will be used to support the faith based program at the 40-bed men’s campus in Johnson, and at the women’s campus for 12 to 16 residents in central Vermont Vermont Adult & Teen Challenge has served more than 1,100 clients since it opened the men’s Johnson campus is 2005. The women’s campus opened in 2019.
To contribute to the holiday matching fund drive, visit www.tcvermont.org. Checks can be mailed to Vermont Adult & Teen Challenge, 1296 Collins Hill Road, Johnson, VT 05656.
For more information about Vermont Adult & Teen Challenge, call 802-635-7807, or visit www.tcvermont.org
