Needham's fifth annual overdose awareness vigil will put naloxone directly into residents' hands Thursday evening, even as Massachusetts reports its lowest opioid death toll in more than a decade.

The Needham Public Health Division plans to distribute about 50 containers of NARCAN, the nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose, at the gathering from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. Aug. 27 at the Memorial Park gazebo, 92 Rosemary St.

Statewide, opioid-related overdose deaths fell to 978 in 2025, a 27% drop from 2024 and the lowest total since 2013, according to state data. Massachusetts recorded a record 2,364 such deaths in 2022.

Peer recovery coach Angi MacDonnell, who organizes the vigil through the town's Public Health Division, said the decline doesn't erase the need. "The numbers are going down, but one death from overdose is awful and unnecessary because we have naloxone and we have the Safe Spot hotline in Massachusetts … So yes, we've seen a significant change, but nowhere near where it was prior to the opioid epidemics," she told Needham Local.

This year's theme is "25 years on, still needed."

Hayden Krug, a rising junior at Needham High School and member of Students Advocating for Life without Substance Abuse, will speak about growing up in a family affected by addiction. Last year, Krug spoke publicly about her father, who struggled with addiction and died in 2023. Several attendees told her afterward they were moved by her story.

Small pink flags along Highland Avenue at Memorial Park will represent each of the 978 lives lost statewide last year, a visual display that has become a signature element of the annual event.

The vigil began as a collaboration with the Becca Schmill Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Deb Schmill after her daughter Becca died of a fentanyl-laced cocaine overdose at age 18. Schmill told Needham Local the gathering provides a space where people who are struggling can feel seen and supported by their community.

MacDonnell noted that in its first couple of years, the vigil did not draw many Needham residents in addiction or recovery. That has changed.

Free NARCAN is also available year-round at the Public Health Division's offices in the Rosemary Recreation Complex and at the Needham Free Public Library.

Nearby: In Dedham, the Dedham Organization for Substance Awareness and the Norfolk County–8 Public Health Coalition are placing purple flags throughout Barnes Memorial Park from Monday, Aug. 24, through Aug. 31, each representing a life lost to overdose in Massachusetts in 2025. A community vigil is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 31, at 6 p.m. at Barnes Memorial Park. Flag dedications can be made by contacting the Dedham Health Department.

The Massachusetts Substance Use Hotline is 1-800-327-5050. The Safe Spot hotline is 800-972-0590.