'Preventing Pricks' kiosk helps with proper syringe disposal
Jun. 29—On the south side of Emmaus Food Pantry, a red box with the biohazard symbol and the word "sharp" contrast the blue and white walls.
The syringe drop-off kiosk is part of a program called "Preventing Pricks." According to Chris Armstrong of the United Way of Cass County, the kiosk is a place where people can safely dispose of their needles.
Multiple organizations and public officials attended the ribbon-cutting for the kiosk on Wednesday morning.
"United Way is a fantastic organization that was very selfless in everything they do," said Bill Cuppy, executive director of the Logansport Cass County Chamber of Commerce. "There are some uses for this that are very common with diabetics and farmers. But, of course, there are some uses that will probably be for drug use and users in that sense. So it's a thing in every community, you just kind of deal with it and provide things that make it safer."
Armstrong said she got the idea to bring one to Logansport while speaking with Debbie Wallick, executive director of United Way of Miami County, who helped introduce them in Peru. In a Kokomo Tribune article from June 2021, Wallick said residents had dropped off around 230 pounds of syringes in less than a year — equal to about 7,000 needles.
While it's the first of its kind for Cass County, Armstrong said more are on the way. She added that one will be ordered Wednesday and potentially another depending on usage. The United Way of Cass County may look at communities like Royal Center, Galveston and Walton as potential sites.
The location of this box is 19 W. Richardville St. on the south side of Emmaus. It was made possible by working with members of ShipHappens, the Indiana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas agency, Miami County United Way and the Logansport Street Department.
"It's really, truly to help people," Armstrong said. "It really can be a really good thing (for the community)."
