As fentanyl continues to cause significant damage to individuals, families, and the Spokane community, The Rayce Rudeen Foundation is on a mission to educate the public about the drug’s dangers and break the stigma surrounding addiction.

What began as heartbreak for one family became a call to action after entrepreneur and real estate developer Kevin Rudeen lost his oldest son, Rayce, to a fentanyl overdose in 2016. The Rayce Rudeen Foundation was established shortly after his death to raise awareness and connect the public with vital resources.

“Three months after we lost Rayce, we just felt compelled as a family to start the foundation,” says Marsha Malsam, Rayce Rudeen’s aunt and the foundation’s co-founder and CEO. “We didn’t like that no one was talking about addiction. Maybe if people had, we would have seen the signs.”

Rayce Rudeen, a graduate of Freeman High School, was 26 when he died. Malsam says he struggled with depression and anxiety and began self-medicating with herbal remedies purchased online. Over time, he turned to stronger substances. Malsam explains that he didn’t buy drugs on the street, he ordered them online, believing, as she says many do, that what he was getting was safe.

“Our family was not well educated on addiction,” Malsam says. “By the time we recognized he was really off, he was very addicted to substances. We did an intervention and he went to treatment. That’s when we realized how deep he was into it.”

Rayce Rudeen died from a fentanyl overdose three months after completing treatment.

Operating out of Rudeen Development LLC headquarters, located at 24201 E. Knox Lane in Liberty Lake, the foundation partners with individuals, organizations, law enforcement, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to provide education and direct people to appropriate resources. The foundation collaborates with organizations and programs to promote healthy, productive lives free of addiction, according to its website.

“We wanted to remove the stigma of addiction,” says Malsam. “When we were looking for resources on where to help Rayce, it was really hard. There were a lot of rabbit holes. Much of our work now involves breaking down the silos in the care system.”

One of the key programs offered is the Spokane Alliance for Fentanyl Education, or S.A.F.E., in which the foundation works alongside the DEA's Operation Engage program. One of S.A.F.E.’s most impactful tools, says Malsam, is its Narcan training. Narcan is a brand of naloxone, a medicine that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.

According to the Spokane Regional Health District website, there were 264 opioid overdose deaths reported in 2024 in Spokane County, which accounts for 83% of all drug-related deaths that year. There have been 168 opioid deaths in Spokane County, as of Oct. 7, according to preliminary death information from the health district. 

The foundation offers free training sessions and provides free Narcan kits to schools, businesses, and other groups such as book clubs, she says. 

“We usually bring in a pharmacist or an EMT to help people understand,” Malsam says. “Narcan is very safe. You can give it to a baby. You can give it to a 90-year-old. It's extremely safe. And it only works on opiates.”

A critical message the foundation aims to share is the difference between an overdose and poisoning, Malsam says. Many deaths today, she explains, are not traditional overdoses where someone knowingly takes too much, but are considered poisonings, where individuals unknowingly ingest fentanyl-laced substances.

In addition to S.A.F.E., the Rayce Rudeen Foundation operates the Addiction Help Finder, a resource hub on its website that connects individuals with prevention, treatment, recovery, and family support services in the Spokane area.

If the foundation can’t help directly, Malsam says, it will point people in the right direction.

“We are all working together, instead of just focused on our organization,” Malsam says. “There’s a lot of collaboration and working together.”

The Rayce Rudeen Foundation also partners with Eastern Washington University to operate the Rayce Rudeen Music Mentorship Program, an after-school initiative located at Shaw Middle School.

“Music has been proven through data to be very therapeutic,” Malsam says. “And Rayce loved music.”

The nonprofit currently has three employees, including a retired DEA agent, and works with hundreds of volunteers, Malsam says. Staff salaries are paid through a private corporate donor, while operational funding is provided though program revenues, fundraisers, and anonymous donations.

“Every penny that we get goes back into providing education and prevention through different community settings,” says Anna Robinson, the foundation’s executive director. “Every donation we get goes directly into the program.”

The foundation also engages young people in its mission through its Youth Advisory Board and annual Youth Summit, a three-hour event at which students from across Spokane help plan and lead events focused on addiction awareness, mental health, and fentanyl prevention. During the summit, students hear from peers with lived experiences, medical professionals, and law enforcement about how fentanyl is affecting the community in real time.

“This is what the kids told us they wanted,” Malsam says. “They want real information.”

At its core, the foundation’s mission is about awareness and prevention.

“I hope we’re preventing the loss and tragedy for others and really getting people to talk about addiction,” Malsam says. “It is a disease. It shouldn’t be an embarrassment and no one should fight it alone.”

Looking ahead, on Oct. 28, the Rayce Rudeen Foundation will host a screening of the documentary “Fentanyl: Death Incorporated” at The Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague, scheduled 5:30-8 p.m. Following the film, producer Robert Marbut, the former executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness; actor and narrator William Baldwin; along with other guest speakers, will discuss how education and prevention are key to addressing fentanyl addiction.

“It's well made. It's very factual. It’s a bit grim, to be honest,” says Malsam of the documentary. “But we want our community to understand the severity of fentanyl in our community. And we need to talk about it and work together.”