A candlelight vigil is planned for next Friday on the Vineyard as part of an effort to draw attention to the opioid epidemic for International Overdose Awareness Day.

The event is being organized by Dolores Borza, whose activism began in July following the overdose death of a young Oak Bluffs man who was the son of a friend.

Ms. Borza said families are encouraged to bring pictures of people lost to heroin overdoses to form a “wall of angels.” Island health care advocates will have information available for addiction recovery and help for families affected by addiction.

The Rev. Vincent (Chip) Seadale of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church will offer a community prayer for the event, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Owen Park Beach in Vineyard Haven.

Ms. Borza said she hopes the event will help remove some of the stigma that sometimes prevents addicts from getting help.

“I’m a member of the recovery community myself,” Ms. Borza said. “I’ve been trying to encourage no shame. That’s the biggest thing that has kept people that are in active addition from coming forward and getting help. That’s what happened to me a long time ago.”

Ms. Borza began a one-woman demonstration early this month that grew into an assembly of about 40 people the following evening at Five Corners in Vineyard Haven to express frustration at the Island opioid epidemic — and the drug dealers who fuel it.

International Overdose Awareness Day is a held every year on August 31 to reduce the stigma of drug-related death and acknowledge the grief felt by families and friends of those who have died or suffered permanent injury.

For more information about the Vineyard event, contact Dolores Borza at 774-327-8192.