Volunteers Bridget Olson, left, and MaryAnn Blank collect unwanted drugs Saturday at the Welcome Center.
Loudon County Sheriff’s Office deputies transfer drugs to a safe container as part of Saturday’s Drug Take Back Day.
A Tellico Village resident drops off undesired drugs with volunteers MaryAnn Blank, left, and Bridget Olson at the Welcome Center.
Tellico Community Foundation held its fifth Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, partnering with Loudon and Monroe county sheriff’s offices to safely dispose of unused and expired drugs in Tellico Village.
The initiative is part of a nationwide program, always held on the third or fourth Saturday of April and sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration, to specifically fight the ongoing U.S. opioid crisis.
TCF volunteers and local deputies were on hand 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Welcome Center and The Links at Kahite Clubhouse to collect all sorts of drugs from community members with no questions asked.
“We do this actually so we can have people who have extra medication around the house, lying around the house that they don’t use anymore or unfortunately a loved one passed away,” Jimmy Davis, Loudon County sheriff, said. “They have a lot of medication, some of it could be dangerous, so we have these centers where we take it back … to get these medications where they don’t get in the wrong hands and get them disposed of properly.”
Davis said the events collect anything from pain medications to fentanyl patches. Residents could pull up at either location, hand their drugs out the vehicle window and simply drive off. TCF volunteers collected the drugs before passing everything on to deputies to be safely placed in designated containers.
Once everything has been sorted into the proper barrel, law enforcement weighs the total collected in order to inform the community how many drugs were taken out of circulation. All the drugs are then incinerated.
The final weight for this year’s Take Back Day was not available as of Connection presstime, but previous years have seen 200-400 pounds.
Joe Beyel, TCF founding member and chair of the advisory board, said the organization started partnering on the project six years ago but skipped one year during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the group focuses on childhood development and support for seniors.
“Because it’s Tellico Village, it falls under the support for seniors activity,” he said. “Doing something to stem the opioid crisis was one of our first planks in what we wanted to do, and now going forward it’s going to fall under the support for seniors.”
Beyel said participation was slow the first year but quickly grew and has remained consistent. Recent years have seen as many as 400 people take part in the initiative, with Saturday a little lower at 325.
Because Drug Take Back Day has become an established event in the Village, residents plan in advance and bring more drugs as a result. He said he’s heard a number of wild rumors on how people used to dispose of unwanted drugs and thinks the effort is the perfect solution to offer a secure alternative.
“It’s become an event,” he said. “Some of those that have been living here longer, they save things up waiting for this day so they can dispose of things safely.”
TCF is an affiliate fund of East Tennessee Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and serves Loudon and Monroe counties with grants aimed at improving quality of life. The focus is community enrichment, early childhood literacy, the opioid crisis and support for seniors.
For more information or to make a donation, email Jill Murphy at jmurphy@etf.org.
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