Nashville-based convenience store Twice Daily, in collaboration with Fund Recovery, this week installed the city’s first-ever naloxone vending machine available at a convenience store. “This groundbreaking initiative, located at Twice Daily’s store on 1702 West End Ave., makes life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication accessible to the community 24/7, free of charge,” according to a press release sent to NACS.
Fund Recovery supports people struggling with mental health or substance misuse who cannot afford help otherwise. The organization said that the Twice Daily store on West End Ave. was a good place to begin, as Davidson County has over two and half times the national average overdose rate.
“As a Nashville-based, locally owned business, we understand our responsibility to address the urgent needs of our community,” said Dawn Boulanger, vice president of marketing at Tri Star Energy—the parent company of Twice Daily. “It’s been a privilege to partner with Fund Recovery to install Nashville’s first naloxone vending machine available at a convenience store. This initiative goes beyond traditional convenience store offerings—it’s about leveraging our location and accessibility to provide potentially life-saving resources to our guests and neighbors. We’re proud to be at the forefront of this innovative approach to combating the opioid epidemic in Middle Tennessee.”
According to the release, Naloxone is an inhaled medication used to reverse an opioid overdose while it’s happening. Naloxone vending machines, which provide the medications for free, can help people access doses quickly and reduce someone’s risk of dying from an opioid overdose since the medication should be taken immediately.
“The hope is that providing naloxone in a convenient way at no cost will encourage all people, whether they personally use substances or not, to carry the life-saving drug,” the retailer said.
The unveiling was celebrated with a ribbon cutting with local community partners and government officials, including State Representative Jeremy Faison, Dr. Ann Melville-Chester from the Behavioral Health and Wellness Division of the Metro Health Department.
In other recent Twice Daily community news, in February, Twice Daily hit a five-year partnership milestone with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. The company announced that the funds raised for the organization over the last five years “have resulted in 314,800 meals for food-insecure Middle and West Tennessee residents.”