Brenda Thacker (far left) leads the Walk Against Addiction in Kill Devil Hills on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. Thacker has organized the event for 15 years. (Photo by Corinne Saunders)
By Corinne Saunders
KILL DEVIL HILLS — Face resolute, a slender woman strode toward the 15th annual Walk Against Addiction registration table in the First Flight High School parking lot on Saturday morning.
“I lost my only child to addiction…right before I retired from active duty in 2016,” said Mary Lowe Mayhugh, a Washington, D.C., resident and U.S. Army veteran.
She was one of over 100 people who participated in the Walk Against Addiction on the hot and sunny day.
“It’s important to do things like this to make sure people are more aware of that there’s hope and that there’s resources out there, and you can recover from mental health issues,” Mayhugh said. She started a foundation in honor of her son.
Grandy resident Brenda Thacker co-organized the first Walk Against Addiction 15 years ago and is now the sole organizer. The event is “still trying to shatter the stigma” of addiction on the Outer Banks and has grown over the years, averaging 120-150 walkers in recent years, she said.
Registration cost $10, or $25 with a shirt. Proceeds go toward getting people in Oxford Houses, rehabilitation or recovery programs or assisting with transportation, Thacker said.
She added that the 9-11:30 a.m. event is “nonjudgmental” and features about 20 vendors, mostly from “the recovery field” who provide resources and information as people request it.
“I had family members who suffered from the disease,” Thacker said, and she was bothered by the negative names she heard them called. She educated herself on the disease of addiction and now works to educate others.
“They’re sick with a disease,” she explained in an interview. “They’re human beings.”
Rob Claycomb, a Kill Devil Hills resident of seven months, registered for the walk and then pet another participant’s dog.
“I am in recovery myself, and I think it’s a good cause,” Claycomb said of the walk. “We need to spread awareness…that people do recover, and I’m willing to help do that in any way I can.”
People shop the silent auction table during the 15th annual Walk Against Addiction event on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Photo by Corinne Saunders)
During her public remarks before the walk, Thacker shared that her father took his own life two days after his 50th birthday.
“Imagine if there was something like this [event] when my dad was alive,” she said. “Possibly my dad could have found another way out of his addiction instead of taking his own life.”
Judge Robert P. Trivette gave opening remarks, in which he estimated that 85% of the criminal cases he oversees are drug- or alcohol-related.
“Of course [these include] tons of drug cases, DWIs, underage drinking, but also breaking and entering, larceny, assaults [and] domestic violence,” Trivette said. “Usually if you look closely, drugs and alcohol are involved.”
He said he was present to hear people’s ideas, as “every day I see the ravages of substance use disorders.”
Other speakers included Gil Anderson, who spoke of losing his friend, and Cheyann Ripley, who shared how she lost her brother after eight overdoses.
Kaylie Zepernick, a sophomore at Currituck County High School, outlined her rocky childhood living with two parents suffering from substance use disorder who were abusive to each other. She has now lived with Thacker for almost a year.
“I'm doing way better than I used to,” Zepernick said. “I have food to eat, I have a place to sleep, I feel safe and cared for…we see each other for who we really are on the inside.”
Kaylie Zepernick, a Currituck County High School sophomore, speaks to a crowd of over 100 people about the detrimental effects of her parents’ substance use disorder on her childhood during the 15th annual Walk Against Addiction event on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Photo by Corinne Saunders)
An Outer Banks Health van was onsite, with medical personnel providing free flu shots.
Trillium, the Manteo Community Health Center, NAMI, the Dare County Sheriff’s Office, Dare Challenge, the Breaking Through Task Force, the Saving Lives Task Force and Oxford House, Inc., were among the other vendors.
Kristina Sanders, a senior outreach Oxford House staffer from Greenville, said there are 315 Oxford Houses in North Carolina, some of which allow children to reside with their mothers. All are “democratically run” by residents, who can stay as long as they need to. The program boasts an 87% success rate “if someone stays a year or more,” she said.
Dare County has four houses—three for men and one for women, with a 28-bed total capacity—and the program is always seeking more housing, Sanders said.
Following the walk, Gene Perry of Mulligan’s Grille served participants free hamburgers and hot dogs, according to the event program. Melanie Brewer and Tim Ross provided music.
For more information about the Walk Against Addiction, visit its website at https://obxwalkagainstaddiction.com.
A group of people smile as they participate in the 15th annual Walk Against Addiction on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Photo by Corinne Saunders)
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