Local organizations hosting Black Balloon Day in memory of overdose victims

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) – Local organizations will hold memorials on Friday to honor those lost to substance use disorder on Black Balloon Day.

Black Balloon Day is a time to remember, raise awareness, and support those impacted by substance use disorder.

In Missouri, 629 people died from drug overdoses in the first six months of 2025, according to the Preliminary 2025 Missouri Statewide Drug Overdose Death Report. In Northwest Missouri, 23 overdose deaths were reported during the same period.

Family Guidance Center hosted a memorial honoring Missourians who have died from an overdose. A slideshow was shown featuring the faces and names of Missouri residents who died from overdoses was shared by the National Drug Epidemic Memorial. More than 300 Missourians were included in the slideshow.

Representatives from Family Guidance Center shared remarks and observed 14 seconds of silence to honor those who lost their lives.

Eric Stone, Family Guidance Center substance use counselor, said Family Guidance goes through the statistics every year of people who have lost their lives to drug overdose.

“That causes us to want to help other individuals.  It's the lack of hope, and it's the stigma that we see. We want to try to address that and help the community to see addiction is a chronic illness and moral deficiency," he said.

Stone said this day helps families by not forgetting about loved ones who lost their lives to drug overdose.

"One of the things that I like about events like this is that it doesn't just let us remember the individuals that are lost by overdose and address the stigma, but it also helps us focus on policy changes for harm reduction, treatments instead of focusing on consequences and punishments, and that helps suffering with this illness more likely reach out for help," he said.

Stone said he hopes everyone feels hope when they see the memorial.

“That we are here to help, and there are other agencies in town out there to help," he said. People who have lost their lives aren't just a statistic, and here at Family Guidance, we have many programs out there to help."

Stone said families grieving in silence should know they are not alone.

“You don't have to grieve in silence, and the more voices that are out there to speak out loud, the more changes we can make.  The more stigma we can address, the more policies that can be changed and the more people's lives can be changed," he said. The less black balloons we can see on days like this, and in the future, maybe we can see less names written on the walls. 

Across town, the St. Joseph Health Department set up two tables for Black Balloon Day. The tables offered resource information, Deterra bags and visitors could write the names of loved ones who died from an overdose.

Stephanie Malita, the health educator at the St. Joseph Health Department, said the St. Joseph Health Department has a contract with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, which is the State Action Grant.

"We have the Alliance for Substance Use Prevention on the second Thursday of each month at the health department at noon. Anybody in the community is welcome," she said. "We have a lot of treatment and recovery centers represented. We, law enforcement, represented the hospital and education is represented."

Malita said it’s important to celebrate black balloon day to honor those who have passed from overdose.

"We want to make sure that awareness is greater. Awareness brings a reduction in stigma; the more people who know about something like overdose and how it impacts anybody from any walk of life, the less stigma is going to be attached to somebody that is seeking recovery services," she said.

Stone said it is great that the overdose deaths have dropped in Missouri.

"I think there's still a lot more work that needs to be done, and that this is continuous work that has to be done. We have a lot more work to do, and we are here to help," he said.

The Unforgotten Project has been posting tributes on its Facebook to honor people in the community who have lost their lives to drug overdoses.