When they’re not litigating lawsuits or creating unbreakable contracts, the more than 375 women of Attorneys Serving the Community (ASC) are known for a unique fundraising program. Since 1987, they have raised nearly $5M for Dallas-area non-profits including The Bridge Breast Network, Hope Supply Co., Mosaic Family Services, Rainbow Days Inc., Junior Players, Dallas CASA, Helping Restore Ability and Foundation for the Education of Your Women.
One of their top fundraisers is a luncheon where they bring in a speaker who aligns with the year’s beneficiary.
ASC Leader Chair Maeghan Whitehead and Co-Chair Jennifer Klein Ayers along with Honorary Chair Valerie Howell have just announced that Nexus Recover Center will be the beneficiary of its yearlong fundraising efforts highlighted by the luncheon on Friday, June 16, at the Thompson Dallas.
As for the speaker, it will be journalist/best-selling author Beth Macy.
If her name is not all that familiar, her research and investigations have resulted in a Nieman Fellowship for Journalism, a Lukas Prize and the Hulu series “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company That Addicted America” featuring Michael Keaton and Peter Sarsgaard.
Beth has taken on the disturbing opioid crisis that has become rampant in households from the needy to the rich and famous. Leaving no stones unturned nor “fat cats” off the hook, she has relentlessly investigated “a national drama that has unfolded over two decades. From the labs and marketing departments of big pharma to local doctors’ offices; wealth suburbs to distressed small communities in Central Appalachia; from distant cities to once-idyllic farms towns; the spread of opioid addiction follows a tortuous trajectory that illustrates how this crisis has persisted for so long and become so firmly entrenched.”
Following the publication of “Dopesick” in 2018, she carried on her effort to shine a spotlight on opioid makers, distributors and retailers in “Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis.”
In reviewing “Raising Lazarus,” the “New York Times Review” reported, “In ‘Raising Lazarus,’ Macy…has moved on to an even more impenetrable question: How the hell do we extract ourselves from this quicksand? The new book represents Macy, one of the pre-eminent chroniclers of the nation’s opioid epidemic, at her full-bore fearless best. Heartsick and determined, she grills drug policy scholars and former drug czars alike. With her big heart affixed conspicuously to her sleeve, Macy introduces readers to people mired in addiction and to those who seek to help them.”
As a result the pharmas are paying and the lawsuit settlements are tumbling in. And the numbers are in the eight figures… like billions.
Funds raised from the luncheon will support Nexus’ mission to “serve as a community of hope and recovery for all women and their families who strive to live healthy, resilient lives” by offering an array of comprehensive services, including specialized substance use disorder treatment services, as well as therapeutic treatment and care for their accompanying children in order to restore health and encourage resilience – regardless of a woman’s ability to pay.”
As Valerie said, “We are very excited about this partnership. Beth Macy is one of the nation’s foremost experts on the opioid crisis, so who better to speak about the work that Nexus does every day?”
While the tickets and sponsorships aren’t yet available, Beth’s books are here and here.
* Graphic/photo provided by Nexus Recovery Center