OSWEGO, N.Y (NCC News) — The Oswego Substance Awareness Family Education Fair was originally scheduled to be an in-person event back in April. The SAFE fair aims to educate and advocate the most important topics of mental health, addiction, synthetic drugs, and overall wellness. In its first six years, it included hands-on activities and games. But in 2020, the coronavirus washed that possibility away.
Instead, the fair pivoted to a zoom platform this year. This year’s event consisted of 15 live sessions and nine recorded spotlight interviews on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22.
Even after its cancellation in the spring, VOW Foundation president and fair creator Teresa Woolson pushed for ways to still make the event possible in 2020.
“When we had to cancel back in April due to the pandemic, I kept thinking ‘there’s got to be a way to get the information and education out to the community,’ because it’s so important,” said Woolson. “So it took me a while to figure out how to do that, and how to do it virtually.”
Woolson started the fair and the VOW Foundation after losing her son to synthetic drugs in 2012. The Foundation is named after her son, Victor Orlando Woolson. That experience is something the president doesn’t want other families to go through.
The foundation was created to spread awareness of the dangers of synthetic drugs and bath salts, as well as to advocate for stronger legislation against synthetics for the health and safety of young people. It also aims to educate individuals and organizations in advocating for providing services to the mentally ill, homeless and low income youth in Oswego County.
“[It was started] so that I could bring educational opportunities to the community and teach the community what synthetic drugs are, how they’re very devastating and how they rip families apart like mine,” Woolson said. “That’s the main topic, and that’s the main health concern all over.”
