Carmel High School Republicans President Chris Elmore was the driving force behind this winter’s blankets for the homeless drive, which spread from Carmel to include donations from across Central Indiana.
Now he’s working hard to help fight the opioid epidemic in Hamilton County by organizing a prescription drug takeback day from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 27 at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds, 2003 Pleasant St., Noblesville.
Like his last Young GOP project, this one has outgrown the bounds of Carmel and now includes several Young GOP clubs coming together to help their communities.
“Carmel High School is the main driving force for this,” Elmore told The Reporter. “It is also run with Westfield High School, Fishers High School, University, Brebeuf, Park Tudor and Zionsville Community High School Young Republican Clubs.”
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The goal of this project is to take back over-prescribed drugs in the community under proper police supervision.
“The drug epidemic is large in America, with opioids being some of the most addictive substances for abusers,” Elmore said.
For Elmore, this is both a matter of community service and an issue with a personal connection.
“I have seen people whose lives have been ruined by opioids and who have struggled with addiction,” Elmore told The Reporter. “This project does strike a personal nerve for me.”
The event is largely about helping fight the opioid epidemic, but it is in no way limited to just those prescription drugs. Citizens are encouraged to bring any prescription medication that is expired, over-prescribed, or for any other reason needs to be disposed of properly.
“If they have the bottles with all the prescription information on it, we keep it so we can keep track of which drugs we are collecting,” Elmore said. “We had originally reached out to the Sheriff’s Department, who put us in contact with the Hamilton County Council on Drugs and Alcohol. We will have Sheriff’s Department supervision at the event with Captain Mark Bowen.”
This is the second time clubs in Hamilton County and Zionsville have participated in a project like this.
“We are all part of a larger organization called the Indiana High School Republicans who started about a year ago,” Elmore said. “This is one of the first projects we wanted to work on because we thought it was important to address the opioid issue and fight against the drug epidemic that we see in our community and our schools.”
Elmore told the Reporter that both community service and Republican politics have become important to him in recent years.
“I got involved with Republican issues in 2016 and after that election I started to identify more with the Republican Party,” Elmore explained. “I joined the club last year. Both presidents graduated last year. I took the president position this year and really reinvigorated the club with a lot of community service as well as political activity.”
Part of that reinvigoration could be seen in his first project as president, the blankets for the homeless drive last winter.
“That was my idea,” Elmore said. “Initially it just started with Carmel, but after we saw the incredible community response we were getting we decided we were going to try to spread this to the other clubs in Hamilton County. It turned out involving all of Central Indiana. It was one of the first ideas I had for the club and I was really passionate about it.”
Through that community project, Elmore has learned how challenging the logistics of a project involving clubs from across Hamilton County and beyond can be.
“That part is challenging because the event is in Noblesville so that can be a 30-minute drive for some of these club members,” Elmore said. “It can be quite a challenge to get people motivated, but once they hear the message about what we are trying to do and how important it is, a lot of club members and presidents get motivated and want to give back to their community.”
The Young Republicans are hoping to have at least five members from each participating club on hand at Saturday’s drug takeback event.
All you have to do is arrive at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds, 2003 Pleasant St., Noblesville, between 9 a.m. and noon on Saturday. The Young Republicans will be on hand to come collect the opioids for you and safely dispose of them with police supervision.