As a college student and budding PR professional, I am on multiple social media apps. One of my favorites is TikTok. I discovered a creator I enjoyed and learned quite a bit from, as we come from two different life paths. I heard she was involved with a small nonprofit in her state, Oklahoma. I reached out to the nonprofit as I was interested in hearing more of their story, and how they use social media. After all, this interview proves that social media works for small nonprofits, connecting people from different states.
I interviewed Alex McGowan-Rayburn, Volunteer Coordinator at Shred the Stigma, for this blog.
What was the catalyst that made you want to start a nonprofit?
She helped start Shred the Stigma due to the large volume of fentanyl overdose deaths in Oklahoma City. She was put in touch with Drew, the founder, through an email chain from an organization in Tulsa. Drew and she have been working together ever since.
Do you have any background in social media?
McGowan-Rayburn has a background in social media, and her day job is doing social media for another nonprofit.
What is your posting schedule?
For Shred the Stigma, she is “flying by the seat of my pants”, and posts aren’t scheduled out. For her other nonprofit job, she does follow a morning-to-afternoon schedule and has found that Wednesdays at 9:20 am are optimal, based on engagement data.
Do you have any plans for Shred the Stigma’s social media?
Currently, McGowan-Rayburn is using social media as a recruitment tool for volunteers and promoting their safe use kits and announcements like inclement weather as it impacts delivery drivers.
What is in a kit that you deliver?
In most kits, there is a flyer with a QR code linked to their Linktree for tips on administering Narcan and using a fentanyl test strip, among other information. Every kit is either a long or a short. A long is a longer syringe needle, while a short is a shorter syringe needle. Every kit includes
- 20 syringe points.
- One box of Narcan, with two doses in each box
- Two condoms
- Four alcohol, anti-septic wipes
- Some lube
- A tourniquet
- A little cooker
- Cotton
“This is all for people to inject safely,” McGowan-Rayburn said.
What do you hope to get out of social media?
For their social media, McGowan-Rayburn hopes to build awareness as people have a lot of ideas about harm reduction and how it is “enabling”, “it’s not good”, and “it’s not helpful”.
“We track how many overdoses people report to us using a Google survey. We are at almost 300 overdoses. We’ve been doing this for seven months, so that’s 300 people who are alive because we are doing this.” McGowan-Rayburn said. “My goal is to make people more aware of the harm of not testing your drugs, the harm of using a loan, and not having someone there to administer Narcan. To literally shred the stigma about drugs. Everyone is doing it. I’ve delievered these kits to super nice neighborhoods, and really, really scary neighborhoods, and everywhere in between. Everyone, not everyone but lots of different people are using drugs. It’s not just one kind of person problem, it’s an everyone problem.”
Is the number of overdoses down from the start or about the same?
The number of overdoses is about the same as before Shred the Stigma started, but more people are surviving those overdoses. They collect a lot of data as an organization, and they are operating under Senate Bill 511 in Oklahoma, which has a sundown clause, so it’ll expire in 2.5 years. Shred the Stigma is collecting as much data as possible to show that this bill shouldn’t only become law forever but should be expanded and funded.
How do you see your social media involvement evolve?
Shred the Stigma gained many followers fast on social media, “which has been really cool”. Many Instagram followers share Shred the Stigma’s posts in their stories.
Has that translated to more volunteers and donors who are spreading awareness?
They have seen a significant uptick in volunteers. McGowan-Rayburn is hopeful that they will see an uptick in drivers, too, as they are trying to do driver training events monthly.
How do you see social media playing a role in the future?
Looking at their social media’s future, McGowan-Rayburn hopes they can use it for more fundraising and recruitment. She would like to get into breaking down their data and sharing safe injection and HIV and HEP-C testing that they can hold events for.
Do you have anything else to add?
“I can’t stress enough how important harm reduction is in every city. I hope that it becomes more widely accepted and less taboo and stigmatized because if we don’t talk about it, people will die silently.”
