National Recovery Month events planned for Alaska

September is National Recovery Month, and an Anchorage group working with those struggling with alcohol and substance abuse is working to bring communities and businesses together to support people in the recovery mode.

Tiffany Hall, executive director of Recover Alaska, said her organization is seeing tremendous support from the Alaska business community wanting to be involved. Several restaurants in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Soldotna, for example, plan on offering creative non-alcoholic cocktails on their beverage menu in September.

Alaskans in recovery or not are also invited to participate in Recover Alaska’s Dry Weekend Challenges throughout the month, including taking a pledge to spend a weekend free of alcohol. Recover Alaska will provide a checklist of “dry” activity ideas, and send small prizes to participants who accept the challenge and share how they spent their sober weekend via social media.

Hall also urged Alaskans to show their support for Recovery Month by sporting specialty flair pins and hanging orange ribbons in an effort to come together and “paint” the town orange. Each ribbon symbolizes a journey to recovery, and those who choose to hang a ribbon in the community can place them anywhere that is meaningful to their own or a loved one’s recovery, she said. Participants are encouraged to share where they’ve placed their ribbon, as well as their recovery stories, with Recover Alaska via social media.

More information about Recovery Month events will be posted at www.recoveralaska.org

Partners in Recover Alaska include the Rasmuson Foundation, the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, Mat-Su Health Foundation, Providence Alaska, Southcentral Foundation, and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

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National Recovery month is sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in Rockville, MD, whose mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. Their website is www.recoverymonth.gov

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