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TURNER — About 200 people took part in a Walk Out of the Darkness event held at Leavitt Area High School April 29. Walk Out of the Darkness is a national movement by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The walks are used as fundraisers for the local chapters (75 in U.S.) as well as the national foundation. Helping to organize the Leavitt walk were teachers Georgia Vallee and Jamie Juntura joined by Maine chapter leaders Matt and Kelly Hoyt.
The Foundation and Maine Department of Health and Human Services statistics have suicide often being the ninth leading cause of death in Maine, occurring at the rate of one death every 37 hours. Leavitt High School and the towns of Turner, Leeds and Greene have not been unaffected by members of those communities taking their own lives. Several students and families affected personally were in attendance to walk and raise money as well as awareness of the problem.
The good showing of walkers that day was credited to social media, the work of Leavitt students and members of the sports’ teams. Math teacher Jamie Juntura had several of his track team athletes present, and there were several “Leavitt Field Hockey” jackets visible. Juntura noted this was the first walk for the foundation on a high school campus in Maine. Two weekends prior, the Turner Athletic Association held a HORSE basketball tourney at Leavitt for a similar cause.
In speaking to participants just before the walk began, Juntura noted the event raised about $5000, of which 50 percent would go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The foundation has a goal of reducing the suicide rate by 20 percent by 2025. They do their work through research, education, advocacy and support. They fund neurobiological, psychosocial and genetic research as treatment programs. Their Interactive Screening Program reaches people at risk and provides ways to engage them with counselling. They also help loss survivors heal after the death of a loved one.
CAPTION: Suicide walk tees – Individuals and groups had special people in mind when they created these tee-shirt messages to wear during the suicide prevention walk last month at Leavitt Area High School. (Photo by Bill Van Tassel.)
