Plymouth Mom holds fundraiser in late son’s honor

PLYMOUTH, Ind. -- She lost her son to an overdose. Now she’s turning her tragedy into an effort to open a local, accessible substance abuse facility in her community.

“I decided I could either sit on the couch and feel sorry for myself, or I could turn it around and try to help as many people as I could,” said Angie Kain.

Under the glow of stage lights and beside a table filled with donated items for auction, Kain hosted a fundraiser on Saturday night at the Moose Lodge in Plymouth in her late son’s honor.

Kain is hoping the #CMLJustOne campaign she recently launched will not only pay tribute to Chandlor Matthew Lamb, who died of an overdose, but will help reopen the doors and transform Plymouth’s defunct Shady Rest Mental Health Center into a local substance abuse facility.

“To have it here [in Plymouth], to be able to make one phone call and not have to make 33; and to not have to drive two hours away; and not need $30,000 to go in; and not need insurance to get in; that is like a family’s saving grace,” Kain said.

“But even the people that have to go there? They still kind of feel like they’re at home [if there’s a local facility],” said Brad Ebert, who knew Lamb for most of his life and helped plan Saturday’s event. “They don’t feel like they’re alienated because they got shipped off to Indianapolis or Fort Wayne to be at a treatment facility.”

Dozens of people came out Saturday night to donate to the cause, purchase raffle tickets, and get some #CMLJustOne merchandise.

The event was put together by a mother in mourning, who hopes to save just one life in honor of her son’s.

“When we hung up the banner last night – the banner that’s behind me – I just felt like, you know, he’s not here, but he’s in heaven,” Kain said, speaking of her son. “And I know that he’s in God’s band up there. And I know – I just feel that the weather’s beautiful today; I just feel like a calmness and just blessed. And I just know, his love for music – and as close as he was with Brad and Brandi – and I just know that he is like, ‘Wow Mom, thank you.’”

Saturday’s event featured two bands performing live.

There is a meeting next week to decide if the plan to reopen Shady Rest is ready to go before the Marshall County Commissioners for approval.

If you’re interested in donating to #CMLJustOne, you can stop by the Lake City Bank in Plymouth and place a donation under the account “David’s Courage.” That’s the name of the substance abuse facility Kain and her colleagues hope to open.