Edmunds County Tribune -

The Edmunds Central Parent Advisory Committee (P.A.C.) hosted their third annual MOMentum event on Saturday, April 15 in the Roscoe Legion.

The MOMentum featured guest speaker Angela Kennecke, as well as displays from local businesses with items that could be of interest for women.

Broadcast jounalist Kennecke began with the broadcast that broke her heart when she announced the fentanyl poisoning death of her daughter Emily.

After the death of her "smart, talented, beautiful daughter" Angela made the choice to share Emily's story. She wanted to help others and tell others about Emily. Her oldest daughter loved animals, was musical, was a gymnast and was going to major in art at the University of South Dakota. She was a 2015 high school graduate

But Emily changed when she was 14 to 15 years of age. She met a boy who turned her to drug use. Angela said she was at a loss how to deal with the changes in Emily.

That May Emily and her Mom celebrated Mother's Day. Angela's family also planned an intervention that month in 2018, hoping to send Emily to a treatment center.

"We are not doing enough," Angela said. Fentanyl is the #1 killer of young people she said. Emily was doing heroin laced with fentanyl.

Three days before the planned intervention Emily was found dead in her apartment on May 16, 2018.

Angela said she had to pull herself out of the pit that followed Emily's death. "I had to put others first," she said. That was how Emily's Hope began, to let people know they are valued.

Emily's Hope is making a big difference in people's lives.

Since 2019, Emily's Hope has helped over 300 people ranging in age from 19 to 70 with Emily's Hope Treatment scholarships.

The Emily's Hope Poker Run and Classic Car Show and Emily's Hope Art Show and Auction raise funds for the mission of the group, to help people go through treatment. They pledged $100,000 for the new Avera Adolescent Treatment Care Center.

Emily's Hope is developing Prevention Curriculum. They have a prevention education curriculum for third-grade students designed to teach them the effects of substances on the brain, body, and life. They are piloting the program in 9 South Dakota classrooms and one in Minnesota in the 2022-23 school year.

Fentanyl is very addictive. It is a chemical war on our young people, Angela said. Colorful pills are being produced to introduce children to fentanyl.

See emilyshope.charity for more information.