KINGSTON — State House candidate April Ferguson knocked on doors, wanting to learn about neighbors’ concerns.

She found herself helping a neighbor pick up syringes and other drug-related detritus from a local trail and park.

Within feet from of Kingston’s new Village Green Community Center — encompassing a library, senior center and Boys & Girls Club — a heroin needle, crack pipe, and a makeshift meth straw were found within a 5-foot radius on a forest trail leading to the park.

Kingston resident Toni Bourner walks local trails frequently. During a recent walk, her eyes were open to a new discovery — the drug problem in the community.

On May 3, Bourner took her daily walk, looping past the ferry landing and waterfront park and through the forest,  listening to the birds sing high in the nests above.

She stopped to sit on the lawn next to a bench at the Village Green Park.

“I sat down and rested my hand on the grass,” she said. “And less than an inch away from my hand was the tip of a needle poking out of the ground. I was terrified.”

Her first thought was of her children.

“I want to be there for my kids. That one needle could have gotten me — from someone else’s stupidity and disrespect. My daughter will be 16 in August. She walks these trails with her friends, but you never know what someone who is strung out is going to do.”

Ferguson learned of the incident when she knocked on Bourner’s apartment door.

“We talked for a long time,” Ferguson said. “We both have sons that are autistic. And when Toni brought this drug issue to my attention, I knew something had to be done.”

Twenty-four hours later, the two women joined together to make a difference.

“Yesterday, I gave myself a goal  — 24 hours to fix the problem,” Ferguson said.

In that time, Ferguson contacted the Kitsap Public Health District and the sheriff’s department, and scheduled a walk to sweep the trails for drugs.

“I’m contacting people,” Ferguson said. “It’s children, it’s adults, it’s lives that matter. I know what’s going on and I want the word out. Children need to be [safe] outside.”

Bourne, who has spent years giving talks on autism, said her passion has been ignited in fighting this issue.

“Yesterday lit a fire,” she said. “I knew I had to do something. I will do whatever it takes to make sure my kids and other kids are safe.”

She is exploring ways to give talks to the kids of the community about the hazards of drugs, or at least, finding solutions of how to dispose of them properly.

“This is important. I know a lot of kids and teenagers around here … If we can get the word out to schools and the Boys & Girls Club, [that] it’s not the choice to go down this road. I know people who have gone down that hard road but they need to know there is help out there. There’s a better life for them than what is going on here right now.”

Less than a mile down the forested trail from the Billy Johnson Skate Park, Bourner said drug deals and prostitution are common.

“My son built the most amazing fort by our apartment, but then a meth head started squatting there. Finally, I had to go out there with my son and take it down. It was just too close to home,” she said.

In Bourner’s Facebook post from 8:10 a.m. May 4, just hours before her trail sweep to pick up drug paraphernalia, 28 different comments were made regarding her post about drugs in Kingston.

“The garden at Village Green is right there,” she said. “We have this beautiful new park that everyone loves to play at but parents are in fear from these things. I don’t want Kingston to go down hill because of drugs. It’s an epidemic that needs to be taken care of.”

Ferguson added, “We need to let people know the seriousness of this,” “It’s time for people to get out there and let their voices to be heard.”