Arkansas addiction recovery organization sells fireworks in Fort Mill to ignite hope

FORT MILL, S.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — The Fourth of July holiday weekend is almost over, but it’s a holiday that may cause lasting impacts on individuals who struggle with substance abuse and addiction.

Some substance abuse help programs indicate that the summer holidays can be some of the worst for chances of relapse.

This time last year, the NCDHHS reported that one in nine adults reported some form of substance abuse.

This year, however, some individuals have found hopeful conversations from a group of women who travel to the Carolinians from Arkansas.

For the fourth year in a row, more than a dozen women from New Hope Refuge made the 13-hour drive to Fort Mill, S.C. to help sell fireworks at Fireworks Supermarket.

Warehouse operators predict that hundreds of people a day travel from N.C. to S.C. to buy fireworks this time of year.

It’s as they check out, or search for the biggest bang for their buck, that they’re getting a chance to hear testimonies from women who have overcome major obstacles in their lives.

Sarah Barger is one of them.

“Hey, there is a better way. There’s a way out of it,” she said of the major takeaway she hopes some people have.

The Arkansas-based organization began this partnership with the fireworks store, as a way to help raise money for the refuge.

It blossomed into a chance for some women to get hands-on work experience that can carry over once they graduate from the program.

However, as Sarah and others discovered, it was a way for them to speak to women who may be battling addiction with no way of getting help.

“Each and every one of these ladies . . .  that are in the ministry at one point in time . . .  we were deep in our addictions,” Sarah shared. “By the time I got here, I was living in a woodshed. . . It was the hope of seeing other girls who had done it, and it worked.”

Throughout their four years of speaking with customers from the Carolinas, they’ve helped a handful of individuals, including a mother who was deep in her addiction.

Sarah explained that a man came in to buy fireworks and told her, “’my ex-wife is actually battling addiction, she’s living in a tent somewhere nearby. I’d really love it if ya’ll could speak with her.’”

Sarah said the woman packed up what she had and traveled with them back to Arkansas where she went into recovery and quickly graduated from the program.

Sarah explained, “It’s the hope of seeing other girls who had done it and it worked. I think that’s what it is.”

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