HIGH POINT -- Volunteers donated their time Wednesday for a Naloxone packing party in High Point to try and reduce heroin and opioid overdoses in North Carolina.                  

Caring Services, Inc. and the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition hosted the event.

“These parties are really important to the work that we do and getting kits out into the community,”said  Hyun Namkoont with NC Harm Reduction Coalition.

Naloxone is an overdose reversal drug proven effective in saving lives.           

High Point police said heroin-related overdoses increased by 160% from this time last year in the International City. In 2014, law enforcement recorded 116 heroin-related overdoses and 14 heroin-related deaths. Last year police saw a reduction with 77 overdoses and 6 deaths.

“We're over 126 overdoses now,  and by overdoses we're talking incidents where the police, EMS and fire have been called out for somebody that is unconscious and suffering from the effects of heroin."

The kits packed consisted of two doses of Naloxone along with two intramuscular syringes and an overdose prevention brochure.

"It's really a community issue and it's going to take a community to correct it,” said Chase Holleman, with Caring Services, Inc.  

The kits will be distributed by the N.C.Harm Reduction Coalition Statewide. The non-profit estimates it hands out between 25,000 and 30,000 kits annually.