Harlem High School’s football stadium will be filled with purple during Friday’s matchup against West Laurens for its addiction awareness game.

The school is partnering with three local organizations, Bridges of Hope, Southern Pines Recovery and Wings of Wheeless to shed light on the struggles of substance abuse and addiction and how people can recover.

This is the first year Harlem is holding this event. Cynthia Wheeless, the founder of Wings of Wheeless, lost her son, Chase, due to an accidental drug overdose back in 2022. Chase was a former student and athlete at Harlem. When Wheeless brought the idea to Harlem’s attention, they were all in.

“We just feel like there’s so many people in our community that may need this,” Harlem athletic director Rodney Holder said. “I don’t know of a

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