LA GRANDE — Four months ago Jay Devin lost his grandson due to an opioid overdose in Central Oregon.

The loss turned the La Grande man’s life upside down.

“After it happened I blacked everything out for weeks,” Devin said. “I blame myself because I was not there to help my grandson.”

Today, Devin is responding to the devastating loss by starting a series of prayer vigils named “Shine A Light” aimed at rallying Union County residents to stand up against opioid use and get more people to support those fighting opioid addiction.

“This problem affects all of us,” he said. “We want to raise awareness of it.”

The first of these prayer vigils was conducted Saturday, March 5, early in the evening at Max Square. The prayer vigil was the first of about six Devin hopes to help to put on through April.

Devin told the 25 people who attended the vigil that if his actions can save one life it would ease at least a small portion of the guilt he feels.

Devin, who has lived in La Grande since the 1980s, said the prayer vigils are needed because people in Union County are dying as a result of opioid overdoses.

“Opioids are killers, they take over your mind and body,” he said.

Devin believes the key to stop opioid overdose deaths is education. Devin said that if laws were in place that required people to attend classes on opioid abuse each time they overdosed on them, the problem would be improved.

“You have to educate it out,” he said.

Devin said people who want to tackle the opioid overdose and addiction problem must be prepared to address the issue tirelessly.

“There can be no quitting,” he said.

Zoe Cleveland of La Grande, who also spoke at the prayer vigil, urged people to reach out to those battling drug addictions.

“We have to be there for each other,” she said. “All we really have is each other.”

Cleveland said the Shine A Light prayer vigils have the potential to make a difference.

“I think if people are genuine about making a change, then change will happen,” she said.

Julie Bean, a drug abuse counselor, also spoke at the prayer vigil. Bean said it is critical that people who want to help recovering addicts understand what they are going through. She said, all recovering addicts are just a moment away from falling back in the abyss of drug addiction.

Bean said there is a core of people those struggling with addiction can turn to in Union County for help.

“We will fight for you when nobody else will,” she said.

The next Shine the Light Prayer Vigils set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 12. Devin said that if the turnout increases, the vigils may be moved to the Union County Fairgrounds.

The First Presbyterian Church was represented at the March 5 prayer vigil. Devin said he will be inviting all churches in La Grande to send delegations to upcoming Shine A Light prayer vigils.