WHITESTOWN, Ind. -- Whitestown first responders used the "Mannequin Challenge" to send a powerful message about drug abuse in central Indiana.
The idea came from Clinton Crafton, Deputy Chief of Operations with the Whitestown Fire Department.
“It’s become more of a problem in the last 6 to 8 months than we’ve ever seen. It seems to be growing nationwide. We’ve seen a lot of attention being given to it because it really is an epidemic,” said Crafton
Crafton said he heard his kids talking about the challenge, and thought that it might be a good way to bring awareness to how big of a problem opioid abuse is in central Indiana.
“This addiction, this abuse of an addiction it effects more than the people who we are treating. It effects families it effects entire communities and so we want to make sure that the people in our community understand that we’re doing everything that we can to try and fight this. We need the community’s help as well,” said Crafton.
The video features Whitestown firefighters, public safety officers from the police department and a teen volunteer.
You can watch the video below:
Crafton said he hopes when people see the video it will push them to reach out and report drug abuse or try to find help for someone they know who is using.
