The Alexander Neville Foundation will be joining us at the Dripping Springs, Texas Walkabout Tour November 13th and 14th as our Ritchie Industries Charity group. The foundation is fighting the out-of-control fentanyl crisis sweeping the country and is close to the hearts of the Downunder Horsemanship team. On June 23, 2020, 14-year-old Alexander Neville lost his life when he was poisoned by a counterfeit pill containing fentanyl. The kind and curious Boy Scout was the grandson of Rick Badousek, our longtime Downunder Horsemanship team member who has been by Clinton’s side since the clinician migrated to the United States.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid known for its immense potency and is now the leading cause of drug deaths in the United States. In 2020, fentanyl accounted for an estimated 70,000 deaths as a result of its use in counterfeit prescription and party drugs on the illicit market. In 2021, that number is expected to grow further and this alarming trend shows no signs of abating. Alexander was one of thousands of adolescents who took a single pill and paid the ultimate price. While drug use in the U.S. has remained constant for six decades, today the threat of fentanyl and other potent chemicals has turned it in to a game of roulette.
Alexander’s parents, Amy and Aaron, had never heard of fentanyl before their son’s death. As they learned about the lethal drug and its rising impact on adolescents and young adults, they formed the Alexander Neville Foundation to educate and warn the public about the fentanyl epidemic taking place. Through the foundation, Alexander’s mother Amy and her partners work with schools, districts, counties, and states in order to teach people about the new reality, provide resources, and save lives. Amy shares her family’s story in the recently released public service film “Dead on Arrival”.
As our Ritchie Charity group, the foundation will have a booth at the tour where they’ll educate spectators about the fentanyl crisis and raise funds for their cause through the event’s Ritchie Charity Ball Toss. The Ritchie Charity Ball Toss is a contest in which horsemen in the audience throw numbered tennis balls they’ve purchased from our chosen non-profit group into the arena, trying to be the closest to a pre-determined marker. The owners of the three closest tennis balls to the marker receive Clinton’s instructional videos and Downunder Horsemanship training tools. All money raised throughout the ball toss goes straight to the Alexander Neville Foundation.
Learn more about the foundation and Alexander’s story by visiting the Alexander Neville Foundation website.
