The Virginia Fentanyl and Substance Awareness Group organized the event at New Life Outreach Church on Sunday.

The gathering included testimonials from those affected by addiction and overdoses, a candlelight vigil and presentations from lawmakers working to support their communities.

For many attendees, the support offered at events like this plays a vital role in recovery.

"I've suffered from addiction for 15 years and I've been clean and sober for 4 years now," Matthew Rouse said. "There's many, many people daily that pass away from this that nobody was there to save and nobody was there to help pull back from the darkness of addiction. It's a beautiful thing when you have all these people out here and everybody willing to share their stories and testimonies to heal."

The group plan

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