On Thursday, January 23, we welcomed leadership from three of the local police departments:
- Souderton Borough – Chief Brian Newhall
- Telford Borough – Corporal Tori Adams
- Franconia Township – Chief Michael Martin
We provided several questions in advance, and two common themes kept resurfacing in their answers – the impact that drugs and addition are having on our community and how prevalent fraud is.
These challenges may seem like “small potatoes” but the panel shared that these issues can take a lot of time to support. I had not thought the process through – for example - when an officer takes someone to drug treatment. It can take several hours. During that time, they are not here in our community and often need to rely on another local police force for back up.
I’ve been thinking of the connection between these two topics as perhaps a result to the challenge of loneliness in our communities. Loneliness and other mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression can lead to substance misuse and the development of addiction. Equally, addiction can contribute to feelings of loneliness.
In addition to the officer’s examples, we heard sharing from several members of our club regarding fraud. One was of an older person who gave away thousands of dollars to their “friend” through the mail. They were convinced that this friend was really someone who cared deeply about them. Their family was completely unaware of what was going on until all the money was gone.
On February 13, at Indian Valley Country Club, we will host a very informative discussion given by Harleysville Bank on fraud. Last year, Care & Share hosted this discussion for our volunteers, and it was very eye-opening. I highly recommend you attend this presentation and bring a guest who might benefit on learning more about fraud.
Thank you for being part of our club!
Hope to see you at the 1,000 Bag Challenge!
Sarah Bergin
President Elect