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Celebrities strike out against opiate addiction

Aldergrove Days ball game features Canucks Gino Odjick and Dave Babych, Toronto Blue Jays Kelly Gruber
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Vancouver Canucks Gino Odjick will be one of the stars at the Aldergrove Days Softball Tournament fundraiser this Saturday, June 10.

There will be a bevy of big stars out in aid of a good cause at the June 10 at the Aldergrove Days Softball Tournament.

Andy Bhatti Interventions and Addiction Services will be teaming up with Vancouver Canucks Gino Odjick, Dave Babych and John Craighead, Toronto Blue Jays Kelly Gruber and Katie Stuart from the hit TV show 100s, oin the fight against opiate addiction.

On June 10 from 10:30 a.m. till 4 p.m. at the Aldergrove Days slow-pitch tournament all celebrities will be signing autographs for fans in exchange for donations to help victims of childhood sexual abuse. There will also be a silent auction. The proceeds from this event will go to Survivors Supporting Survivors Society (www.supportingsurvivors.ca).

The event is being held at Parkside Elementary school’s park, 27130 - 32 Ave. in Aldergrove.

Opiate addictions in Vancouver, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford and across Vancouver’s lower mainland have increased tremendously in the last two years.

In 2016, over 900 people died because of fentanyl addiction in Vancouver. Fentanyl is a highly powerful synthetic opiate that’s more powerful then morphine and heroin. Opiates are a pharmaceutical form of heroin.

“Our goal is to raise awareness on opiate addiction and to let the public, addicts and families know that if you know someone who is abusing opiates, there is help. All drug and alcohol treatment centres in Vancouver and Langley don’t cost lots of money,” said Andy Bhatti, a survivor of substance abuse who now works to help others recover from addictions.

Revolution Recovery Society and Andy Bhatti Interventions and Addiction Services will have a pop-up tent information booth, offering families and friends of addicts free information on where people can go to get help for their loved ones who can’t afford private treatment.

“We will be handing out information on the dangers of opiate addiction and information papers where people can go to for help looking for treatment and detox information,” said Bhatti.

Revolution Recovery House is in Surrey and is a men’s recovery house that accepts people of all incomes and is approved by income assistance.

Addiction doesn’t just effect the addict, it also effects communities and friendships.

“Over the last two years we have seen an increase in people that we are playing slow-pitch with die from fentanyl or other opiate related overdoses. We are now losing are close friends to the deadly fentanyl crisis. We want addicts to know that recovery is possible and they don’t need to try quitting on their own, we are here to help and support one another,” said Bhatti.

For more information on this event go to www.Andybhatti.com or contact him directly, toll-free at 1-888-963-9116.