Here’s how you can help Insa Cannabis support sober housing
Cannabis

Here’s how you can help Insa Cannabis support sober housing

Staff Reporter 798 Views 0 Comments

Combining the powers of cannabis and compassion, the owners of a Massachusetts-based cannabis company are raising money and awareness for the state’s opioid epidemic through their first-ever holiday donation drive.

Insa Cannabis — with stores in Springfield, Easthampton, Avon and Salem — launched its Forest Park Project Donation Drive for the first time this December. Forest Park is a neighborhood in Springfield.

The founders of Insa Cannabis, Peter Gallagher and Patrick Gottschlicht, also co-founded The Forest Park Project that already raises funds in effort to battle the state’s opioid epidemic in other ways such as its annual golf tournament.

But this holiday season, the entrepreneurs wanted to do something new.

“I think its a combination of raising money for The Forest Park Project and then raising awareness as well,” Gottschlicht said in a phone interview with MassLive Wednesday. “The opioid epidemic is still extremely bad and its gotten worse since the pandemic.”

The non-profit organization honors the lives of Brian Metzger and Christian Diaz, who died from opioid addiction. Growing up in Springfield, Gottschlicht said he and Gallagher were best friends with Metzger and Diaz since the third grade. Diaz died on May 4, 2018 at 37 while Metzger was 34 when he died on June 21, 2015.

“A group of us came together after that happened and we said, ‘hey, we got to do something,’” Gottschlicht explained. “We started to research and meet with different groups and entities out there and people in the sober community and just to see what the need was.”

The group discovered the need is sober housing, so The Forest Park Project focuses on establishing sober homes to help those in serious recovery. Gottschlicht said he hopes the drive, which goes until Jan. 2, will help people understand that “there’s a lot of people out there sick and suffering.”

All the funds from the drive will directly benefit The Forest Park Project and its mission to develop sober housing. People looking to donate to the drive can either send money online here or via Venmo.

They can also make a physical donation by stopping by one of Insa’s five locations, which are listed below:

  • Springfield (REC) – 1200 W Columbus Ave.
  • Springfield (MED) – 1200 W Columbus Ave.
  • Easthampton (REC & MED) – 122 Pleasant St., Suite 144
  • Avon (MED) – 20 Stockwell Drive
  • Salem (REC) – 462 Highland Ave.

More information about Insa Cannabis and The Forest Park Project can be found online.

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