Families Unite Nationwide this Saturday for Inaugural 'Walk for Lives' – Largest Grassroots Response to Fentanyl Crisis

Led by bereaved parents, communities across America unite for fentanyl awareness campaigns. San Francisco to host evening event broadcast nationwide.

WASHINGTON DC, DC, UNITED STATES, September 15, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On Saturday, bereaved family members and community leaders will lead the inaugural Walk for Lives in dozens of U.S. cities, coordinated by United Against Fentanyl. The event marks the largest national grassroots effort to address the fentanyl crisis in history.

Fentanyl is currently the leading cause of accidental death in the United States for people under age 50. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 70,000 fentanyl-related fatalities occurred in 2023, representing the majority of the nation's overdose deaths. Federal estimates indicate fentanyl-related deaths now occur, on average, every five minutes.

"Today, approximately one million parents grieve the loss of their child in the past decade due to illicit fentanyl, many of which were poisonings. When that number is combined with the reality that the loss of a child is recognized as the most acute form of psychological pain, it is impossible for anyone to measure the immensity of this crisis," said humanitarian Paul Martin, who founded United Against Fentanyl last year.

Walk for Lives is a grassroots response by family members who lost loved ones to fentanyl poisoning and contacted Martin to be part of the solution. Organizers describe their efforts as designed to not only honor victims but catalyze a unified community-level response to the use of illicit fentanyl.

"History teaches us that movements can change things," Martin said. "It starts when ordinary citizens refuse to accept what is unacceptable, and when there is a unified call for change. The March on Washington in 1963 didn't just demand jobs and freedom—it created them through organized action. Mothers Against Drunk Driving didn't form to merely oppose drunk driving—they drove change by mobilizing communities nationwide."

"Across the nation, participants will not only walk in unity, they will also speak in unity," said Gretchin Murray, who leads the Orlando, Florida event and who lost her son Gage at the age of 29. "The United Against Fentanyl Manifesto was written as a battle cry for change and I am eager for survivors like me to be leading our community members in reciting aloud this national call to action on Saturday."

The five-pillar manifesto demands comprehensive change, calling on all Americans to stop stigmatizing addiction, parents to stop thinking fentanyl can't kill their children, drug dealers to stop selling lethal drugs to loved ones, Mexican cartels to stop making poison that kills citizens, and China's leaders to stop enabling the global trade of fentanyl.

Each Walk for Lives event partners with elected officials, law enforcement, community health centers, addiction experts, faith communities, relevant businesses, and local media.

To penetrate communities, live participation is expected across dozens of regions and key city locations. Examples:

• In St. Paul, MN, survivor parents Michele Hein and Vanessa Marlow will host from the state's capital.
• In rural Kilgore, TX, survivor advocate Misti Ingersoll will host from a city park.
• In Burlington, VT, survivor parent Julie Havelka will host from outside city hall.

To ensure all Americans can participate, one afternoon event from downtown San Francisco's Franklin Square in the Tenderloin neighborhood will be live streamed on YouTube and led by survivor parents Micah and Michelle Sawyer.

Walk for Lives is one of several initiatives launched by United Against Fentanyl as part of its stated mission to "interrupt the use of illicit fentanyl through innovative, bold, and effective initiatives." The organization emphasizes grassroots engagement as a priority, led primarily by parents, siblings, grandparents, and other families directly impacted.

Event Details:
• Date: Saturday, September 20
• Time: Various during the morning in participating cities and in San Francisco beginning at 2:00 p.m. (PST).
• Registration: walkforlives.org
• Media Contact: Jason Lignell, jl3359@georgetown.edu, ‭(269) 281-6880‬
• Cost: free

About United Against Fentanyl
United Against Fentanyl is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that interrupts the use of illicit fentanyl through innovative, bold, and effective initiatives. Our leadership includes recognized thought leaders from foreign policy, law enforcement, public health, medicine, social media, investigative journalism, business, and entertainment.

Jacob Ligness
United Against Fentanyl
+1 269-281-6880
press@unitedagainstfentanyl.org
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