“Tony,
Your performance today was nothing short of spectacular. 1,000 high school students listened to every word of your powerful story. I am thoroughly impressed that you gave out your social media contact and continued to answer questions from our audience both privately and publicly. It shows how much you really care, a class act. I truly believe you saved many lives today and look forward to having you speak again soon. In my opinion, every 9-12th-grade kid should hear your message. Thanks again!”
I'm not sure that a lot of people know this.... States, governments or ranking officials are rarely the reason I end up in a city, state or community to share my story. It is by and large a group effort of extremely passionate people who care about their communities. This means that people like Todd Bowen, CEO of New Life Clinics steps in and says I want to see more for my community and I want to help. Todd owns several treatment centers throughout West Virginia and after meeting him, his passion to help his state and home town people is contagious. Todd was insistent on bringing me to speak to the local school in Point Pleasant. One of the unfortunate statistics for the state of West Virginia is they hold the highest over dose deaths per capita in the United States "opioid epidemic." The sad part is, it's not a hugely populated state, so that means the small number of people who do occupy the state are being devastated by this epidemic. It's people like Todd and those who support him that can make a difference.
I was scheduled to speak to roughly 1,000 kids, which is a good sized crowd! The best thing about this presentation was that it was held out in the football field. I was a little worried about the sun and the heat baking the kids BUT there was some clouds and it wasn't to bad. The kids were amazingly respectful and tuned in for my entire presentation. I'm glad my first visit to West Virginia went so well. I hope to return and do more work there in the future! Thank you again to Todd Bowen and New Life Clinics for hosting me, it was an honor!
