Olympia, Wash. – Anticipation of 200 or more people from the greater Thurston County area are expected to participate in the upcoming Out of the Darkness Community Walk on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012. The fundraising walk supports the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) by helping to support local and national suicide prevention and awareness programs.
The Olympia Out of the Darkness Walk is one of nearly 250 Out of the Darkness Community Walks (www.outofthedarkness.org) being held this fall nationwide through December. The walks are expected to unite more than 60,000 walkers nationally and raise nearly $5 million for suicide prevention efforts.
“Suicide is a national health problem, but in addition suicide is plagued by silence and stigma that continue to be barriers for seeking help,” said Jo McNeal, Area Director for the Pacific Northwest AFSP Chapters. “This walk will help bring suicide out of the darkness and hopefully raise over $20,000 which will be used to fund research and local prevention programs.”
The Olympia community walk will begin at 10 a.m. at Marathon Park near Capitol Lake and end around noon.
It is estimated that close to 1 million Americans make a suicide attempt, more than 36,000 die by suicide, and more than 20 million suffer from depression each year. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among teens, college students and our Nations soldiers. Additionally, older Americans over the age of 65 account for 16 percent of all suicide deaths.
“Every 14.5 minutes someone dies by suicide in the U.S,” said Robert Gebbia, Executive Director for AFSP. “This fall, thousands are walking to raise money for prevention and awareness, and offer hope to the millions of Americans who have lost a loved one to suicide or who battle personally with depression, bipolar illness and other mental illnesses”.
About the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention:
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is the leading national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research, education and advocacy as well as to reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide. For more information please visit www.afsp.org.
