Suicide Prevention Awareness Walk
Saturday, October 16 at Green Valley Park
Inaugural Out of the Darkness Community Walk to
help raise funds for education in the Payson Area
(PAYSON, AZ – October 11, 2010) – Suicide takes an enormous toll on families, friends and neighbors, leaving communities across the country devastated, including Payson. To help raise awareness of suicides in our community through education a community walk will be held on Saturday, October 16 at the Green Valley Park in Payson beginning at 10:00 a.m. The Out of the Darkness Community Walk will unite people with common goals, preventing suicide and ending the stigma that surrounds depression and other mental disorders.
Lauree Moffitt is a mother who lost a son to suicide in 2009. She attended an Out of Darkness walk in Tempe and felt a similar event should be held in Payson. “There were so many people in the same situation I was, or had friends who died because they felt there was no hope. Through education and awareness I know we can save someone’s life in Payson,” said Moffitt.
In the United States, a person dies by suicide every 16 minutes, claiming more than 33,000 lives each year. It is estimated that an attempt is made every minute; with nearly one million people attempting suicide annually. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. among adults 18-65, the third leading cause of death among teens and young adults, and individuals ages 65 and older account for 16 percent of all suicide deaths.
The Out of Darkness Community Walk, which is a program of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, raises funds for research aimed at improving understanding of suicide and ways to prevent it as well as educational programs to increase awareness about prevention, warning signs and the psychiatric illnesses that can lead to suicide.
The majority of funds raised by this walk will stay in the Payson area to provide educational materials to community organizations and the Payson Unified School District.
“Our walk will honor and remember loved ones and allow families and individuals to walk together and share the same mission,” said Moffitt.
The walk is free, but donations are being accepted online at www.afsp.org., and at the walk.
What: Out of the Darkness Community Walk
Where: Green Valley Park, Payson, Arizona
When: Saturday, October 16, 2010 9 a.m. registration, 10 a.m. walk
Learn more at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention - www.afsp.org
To register for the walk, go to OUTOFTHEDARKNESS.ORG, OR CALL 1-888-333-AFSP (2377)
Donations can be made to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
120 Wall Street 22nd Floor New York, NY 10005 (write Payson on the memo line of check)
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About PRMC – Payson Regional Medical Center (PRMC) is a 44-bed acute care hospital serving Payson and the communities along the Rim Country. In 2010, PRMC was recognized for the second time in four years as one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals in the nation by Thomson Reuters, an independent business information and research firm. The hospital provides a full emergency department, surgery, diagnostic imaging, birthing center, clinical offices and other health care specialties. For more information about PRMC go to www.paysonhospital.com.