Leandro De Niro Rodriguez Foundation joins Facing Fentanyl & DEA for National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day
Grief can be incredibly isolating. But there’s purpose and strength in being surrounded by people who understand a heavy loss.
On Thursday, August 20, people from all over the country gathered in Times Square for National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day. The press conference was hosted by Facing Fentanyl and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The crowd included families and friends who lost someone to fentanyl, national partners, law enforcement leaders, public officials, and prevention advocates. The scale of the crisis brought everyone together: an estimated 69,973 people died of drug overdoses in the United States in 2025, according to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.
This year's theme, Power of the Parent, recognized the role parents and families play in shaping conversations, raising awareness, and protecting the people they love.
Drena De Niro, founder of the Leandro De Niro Rodriguez (LDR) Foundation, spoke about the moment fentanyl entered her family's life.
"My son Leo was a beautiful, fun, intelligent, inquisitive, and social kid who loved life and loved his friends,” she said. “And that alone was the reason why I thought he was at such risk of this.
Over a dozen speakers took the stage, including Andrea Thomas, founder of Facing Fentanyl; Terry Cole, Administrator of the DEA; Kevin Simmers, Executive Director of Brooke's House; Bryan Keller, CEO of Keller Logistics Group; and many others.
The event also marked the launch of Hope Hits the Highway, a national naloxone-awareness campaign co-launched by Facing Fentanyl/ARMOUR Families, Keller Logistics Group, and the American Trucking Associations Trucking Cares Foundation. The campaign educates the public on the dangers of illicit fentanyl while equipping professional truck drivers with naloxone to respond to overdoses on the road.
After the press conference, the community gathered in remembrance of their lost loved ones at St. Patrick's Cathedral for the Black Poster Project Memorial Exhibit. The Black Poster Project began in 2019 and this exhibit displayed thousands of posters bearing the photographs and names of people who lost their lives to the opioid epidemic.
“This crisis transcends race and politics,” Drena said. “It’s time we come together and reclaim the lives and safety of the younger generation and end this devastating drug and opioid epidemic.”
Donate here to help the LDR Foundation support grassroots organizations funding treatment, recovery, rehabilitation, and prevention for people affected by substance use disorder.
