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EMMAUS LIVE!

The 2015 Emmaus Live! festival was the brainchild of several friends of James Atticus John-Paul-George & Ringo Ralls, an 18-year-old young man from Emmaus, PA who lost his long battle with drug addiction to a heroin overdose on August 17, 2014.  James was only one of too many young, creative lives lost to drug overdoses in the Lehigh Valley in recent years. 

 

It is our hope that the community will continue to come together to honor those lives by celebrating and encouraging the addiction-free pursuit of creativity through music, art and poetry.  To that end, this page will continue to provide information about recovery-related events and initiatives in the Lehigh Valley. 

 

For instance, check out our page, Recovery OM, to learn how you can try out a free yoga or fitness class if you are in recovery from substance abuse, and see our page, Recovery Events in the Lehigh Valley, to learn where to go to participate in other recovery-related activities and events. 

Music, art and poetry to celebrate lives free from addiction
HELP TURN THE TIDE

At the 2015 festival, we learned about narcotics overdose prevention methods from the Emmaus Ambulance Corps and N.O.P.E. (Narcotics Overdose Prevention Education) and enjoyed great music, food, a raffle and many other fun activities.  All vendors kindly agreed to contribute a percentage of their profits for the day to these causes, and all profits went to support R.A.F.T., our local adolescent drug and alcohol program, and the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Addiction Studies, which is engaged in life-saving research into alternative forms of pain medication to reduce dependence upon opiates.  Commemorative festival T-shirts are still available at a reduced price, and profits STILL go to these great causes, so look under our About the Festival page if you'd like to buy some Christmas presents AND help stem the tide of addiction. 

 

 

 

Let's not stop there.  Let's continue to raise awareness about the need for community support for those in recovery from addiction.  Think about what you can do to help.  Do you have a loved one in recovery?  Perhaps you can host a monthly dinner for him/her and others in recovery to encourage their continued sobriety, and if your dinner takes place before an AA or NA meeting, all the better -- they'll have people to join them!

 

Please get out there and do what you can -- ask your local fitness/yoga center to join Recovery OM in offering a free introductory class for those in recovery, or start hosting dinners and feel free to message us with information on recovery-related activities in the Lehigh Valley so we can get the word out! 

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