Raymour and Flanigan Mattress and Furniture store recently presented a generous $500 donation to the non-profit Gabriel’s Giving Tree (GGT), which helps families with funeral expenses after a substance use death. The check was presented by store manager Dan DeLuca at the Lake Grove store, where the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) also conducted a Naloxone (Narcan) training for customers. The SCPD’s Behavioral Health Unit was also on hand to answer questions.
The SCPD trained 14 people throughout the day and each received a free Narcan kit which contained two doses of the life-saving antidote to opioids.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is the number one public health crisis in the country, one of the worst in 100 years, and fentanyl is the number one cause of death for people 18-45 years of age.
Gabriel’s Giving Tree
After her grandson Gabriel died of an overdose in 2010, Grandmother Paulette Phillippe remembers how her family had the additional struggle to pay for funeral expenses. That’s why in 2020, to mark Gabriel’s 10th anniversary in heaven, she formed Gabriel’s Giving Tree (GGT) to help families in need on Long Island pay for funeral and burial services after a loved one dies from an opioid poisoning or substance use disorder. In 2021, GGT joined forces with the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD), together they have raised more than $100,000, assisting 38 families to provide their loved ones one final gift.
For more information about this non-profit organization, visit: Gabriel.givingtree@gmail.com.
For more information contact Police Officer Bridget Topping of the Behavioral Health Unit, at bridget.topping@suffolkcountyny.gov.