January 14, 2025

Delta, SVSU get NARCAN® distribution boxes

Easy-to-use treatment reverses opioid overdose, helping address public health crisis

Lifesaving treatment for opioid overdose is now available on the main campuses of Delta College and Saginaw Valley State University as well as at SVSU’s Riverfront Center in downtown Saginaw thanks to a collaboration between the two institutions and Face Addiction Now (FAN), formerly Families Against Narcotics.

FAN has coordinated with each of the institutions to place “rescue boxes” stocked with NARCAN® (naloxone) nasal spray, a drug that can reverse an opioid overdose, in locations where people can easily obtain the medication, whether for immediate use or to have on hand in case it is needed.

The rescue boxes distributed by FAN would be recognizable to many; they are repurposed newspaper boxes, those large metal boxes on legs, with a window in the coin-operated drop-down door. In rescue boxes, the locking mechanism has been removed, so users can simply open the box and take a package of NARCAN, one brand of naloxone.

The rescue boxes are funded by donations from individuals or organizations.

The initial two boxes that are being placed at Delta and SVSU honor Nick Kastros, who was a recovery advocate and AmeriCorps VISTA member at Delta College. Nick created the FAN Hidden In Plain Sight trailer, which is used to educate community members on recognizing signs in a teen’s bedroom that may indicate substance use disorder. Sadly, Kastros died of a drug overdose in 2023. His family generously donated Nick Kastros’s memorial funds to ensure continuation of his mission to help end the opioid epidemic.

Face Addiction Now has distributed over 57,000 boxes of naloxone nasal spray throughout Michigan. This lifesaving medication is a part of a larger harm-reduction initiative that aims to save lives and end the opioid epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC): “Provisional data from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2023 — a decrease of 3% from the 111,029 deaths estimated in 2022. This is the first annual decrease in drug overdose deaths since 2018.”

By making naloxone more readily available, Delta College and SVSU hope to help reduce opioid overdoses in the region. On SVSU’s main campus, a rescue box donated by the family of Nick Kastros will be placed in the Cardinal Commons near the Melvin J. Zahnow Library and Starbucks, a high-traffic area of campus. A second box, sponsored by the Saginaw County Health Department, will be placed outside SVSU’s Riverfront location at 200 S. Washington in Saginaw.

The Delta College naloxone box is located outside of the CREW Collegiate Recovery Center in D121.

Locations of other FAN naloxone boxes can be found here: https://faceaddictionnow.org/rescuebox