Jason Beckwith, founder of Action in Recovery, instructs children to stand in the hoola-hoops when throwing water balloons Sunday at the organization's Kids Day in Butler's Rotary Park.

The founder of Action in Recovery, a group of people working to stay sober to feel good about themselves by making a positive difference in their community, said he is very cautiously optimistic about the local decrease in overdose deaths in 2018.

“It’s the collaboration of a lot of things,” said Jason Beckwith, who is a certified recovery specialist and in recovery himself.

“It’s the availability of Narcan, access to treatment, the education portion that the county commissioners have been backing, and as a community, we’ve come together,” Beckwith said. “We’re going in the right direction to limit overdose deaths.”

Beckwith said another factor is the strength of this year’s heroin compared to last year’s, much of which was laced with fentanyl.

Read more about Beckwith in Monday’s Butler Eagle.