Gerry Oake'sgoal of establishing a Saskatchewan Our House to help drug and alcohol addicts advanced one step further with another successful Roll a Thon held on Sept. 4.
About 40 participants roller bladedor cycled the 5th annual event84 km from the Yorkton Information Centre to Esterhazy.The group left at 8:15 a.m. and arrived at 5:30 p.m.
Norm Sharkey, who founded the first Our House in Ottawa, Ont. in 1977, and will be turning 74 this week, roller bladed the distance.
Oake said the event, which relies on donations, raised as much as last year's event."It was a big success. It was great because we had so many kids."
Along with recovering addicts residing at Our House in Vancouver (which Sharkey now operates), Oake spoke to students at sixSaskatchewan schools, including Yorkton Regional HighSchool and Yorkdale School, in Yorkton, onSept. 3.
Talking about an addiction problem is one step towards recovery, the speakers said, and after the speeches, one student at Yorkton Regional High School came forward to talk to the group. Oake had a positive reaction: "That makes me feel good. It's hard whena lot of people are in the area like that. Most people don't want to ask questions because they don't want everyone to know about what's going on... it's amazing when peopledocome up and talk to us."
Oake said a major sign that someone you knowhas an addiction problem is noticing an attitude change."Everything is negative. Usually if somebody's working and they're using they say 'the boss is an idiot, it doesn't pay enough, the working conditions are bad.' Eventually, before we can get cleaned up, we end up getting fired."
Norm Sharkey has authored a book, Sanity 365,a daily guide for addicts.
If you wish to make a donation, contact Gerry Oake at (306) 745-7241.
Andrew Oake, 21, originally from Esterhazy,a recovering addict and resident of Our House in Vancouver, spoke to students at Yorkton Regional High School about why students may not want to get involved with drugs and alcohol."I used for about six years, and it really affected my life," he said. Boredom, peer pressure, and family problems were some of the reasons caused him to use."I thought that was the only way to be happy." After being intoxicated for five months straight, along withlittle contact with friends and family, Oake said he was "tired of the drugs and alcohol," so he moved to Our House in Vancouver.Talking about everything helped him the most. "It changed my life. I talked about the things that were keeping me high and it feels great." I wake up every day with a sense of gratitude and happiness that I thought I'd never have.Oake said his belief in God has also brought him "more power and a sense of where he is in life."His hope for even one student in the audience was to look at their life and "realize that drugs and alcohol aren't worth it... you can be happy and live normally (without substances)."
