KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fentanyl awareness meetings, outreach, vigils, charity walks and social media posts are among a long list of things "Belton Cares" has already done to fight a deadly drug.
On Tuesday, Sandy Clutter with Belton Cares held a candlelight vigil for National Fentanyl Awareness Day.
“Belton has lost several students to fentanyl," Clutter said.
Nearly 100 community members gathered in Belton for a battle to save lives from fentanyl overdoses.
“It is hitting us hard," Clutter said. "We don’t want to lose our kids, so we are here to fight."
Clutter says the community wants peace, and that’s why they chose to meet at an important spot in Belton.
“Peace Park is mainly here to honor war heroes and veterans,” Clutter said. “This is the biggest fight Belton has ever had. This is the biggest fight Missouri has had. This is the biggest fight our country has had.”
Students, parents and community members in Belton are stepping up to help fight the fentanyl crisis.
“It’s affected my school, we’ve had students lost," said Sophia Boxley, a junior at Belton High School. “I really wanted to speak tonight, so I’m going to do it even though I’m kind of nervous about it.”
Two mothers showed up to the vigil, connected over the loss of their sons.
“I just can’t believe he’s gone and I can’t believe all of these people here,” said Paula Baumgartner, who lost her son Luke to a fentanyl overdose.
Angie Williams also lost her sons Christopher and Matthew to a fentanyl overdose.
“It can happen to you,” Williams said. “It helps me know I’m not alone and it helps me realize what a great enormous problem we have here.”
Clutter has seen first-hand the impact fentanyl has had on the Belton community.
“I’ll be the first to tell you I didn’t realize how bad it was until we lost the first student this year on Sept. 4, and nine days later, a graduate passed away," Clutter said. "And then we realized we had a student last January that passed away."
Clutter hopes the vigil was a sense of unity, showing that Belton cares and they’re not alone.
“We have plans to continue our fight; we aren’t done, I don’t know how to be done with this,” Clutter said.
Part of their fight includes getting Narcan into people’s hands.
Clutter has partnered with Cass County Health Department and many other organizations in the fight against fentanyl.
In just two weeks, Clutter has given out seven cases of Narcan, which is equal to 168 life-saving doses.
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