DENHAM SPRINGS - A billboard in Denham Springs is raising awareness around the dangers of drug poisonings and offering victims' families a place to honor their loved ones.

Beth White is one of those family members. Her son, Brandon Reeves, died from a fentanyl overdose at the age of 24.

Reeves once served in the Army National Guard, but White says a crash with a semi-truck changed all that.

"He was leaving work one afternoon, when he was hit by an 18-wheeler broadside," White said.

Unable to serve and still dealing with pain from crash injuries, White says when doctors stopped prescribing pain medicine, Reeves turned to other ways of obtaining relief.

"He went to the street, started buying pain pills, which led to a different substance," White said. "It was fentanyl, it was fentanyl poisoning."

For White, the gathering and the billboard serve as a way to honor her son.

"I don't want their lives to be forgotten because of how they passed away," White said. "Their lives meant so much more than what they passed away from."

The Livingston Parish Coroner's Office recorded 25 overdose deaths in 2025. During the first six months of this year, that number already stands at 14.

Statewide, according to the Louisiana Department of Health, drug-involved deaths dropped from around 2,400 in 2023 to around 1,700 in 2024.

Malinda Odisho, founder of Dan's Legacy of Love, organized the billboard to educate people about the reality of illegal drugs. Odisho lost her uncle to an overdose in 2015.

"It affects everybody nationwide, not just one area, not just one economic status," Odisho said. "It's everywhere. Everyone is affected."

Community gatherings at the billboard and across the country will remember overdose victims, including those whose pictures appear on billboards like this one.

"The goal is to save lives, to make families not feel alone," Odisho said.

More information on Dan's Legacy of Love can be found here.

A community gathering is planned for Saturday, Aug. 8, at 3 p.m. at the billboard, located at 32282 LA Hwy 16 in Denham Springs.