News

Supporters and survivors bring suicide ‘Out of the Darkness’

By Matthew Soucy

Posted on Sept. 26, 2010, at 11:14 p.m.

A group of approximately 250 people huddled under a tent in front of Fogler Library on Sunday with the goal of raising funds and awareness for suicide prevention.

For the second year in a row the Out of the Darkness Community Walk took place on the University of Maine campus. The walk is free for participants and raises funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, as well as public awareness of the issue. Walkers can join in groups or as individuals.

The walk raised $11,681 this year, surpassing the goal of $10,000. This was due in part to the 247 participants walking this year, 70 more participants than last year. The walk is over but the donation period continues until Dec. 31. Those who are interested in contributing can visit the UMaine Counseling Center and Peer Education Program in the Cutler Health Building.

“It is kind of a grassroots effort to do something because there was nothing,” Bethany Asquith of the counseling center said. “It really started from the survivors of suicide.”

Out of the Darkness holds over 200 walks nationwide with five walks taking place in the state of Maine. Hosted by the UMaine Counseling Center, the walk gets its donations from individuals, local groups and corporate sponsors.

“We have a couple of corporate sponsors but it’s mostly just people from the community giving anywhere from $5 to $100,” Asquith said.

The afternoon began with an opening ceremony. Asquith and fellow program coordinator Kylie Cole, a psychologist at the Counseling Center, were first to speak and announced that Peter Bates collected the most donations, making his walking team, team C.P.B, the top donating team.

Cole brought attention to the suicide prevention aspect of the walk and pointed out members of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention who set a table at the event. The table played host to suicide prevention pamphlets containing information on ways to seek help for yourself or others. Members of the foundation were busy answering questions from the crowd as Cole thanked the foundation and asked State Representative Emily Cain, D-Orono, to come to the podium.

“This event is so important,” Cain said in her opening speech.

Cain, who attended the walk last year, said that she became aware of the issues surrounding suicide prevention after losing a classmate to suicide while attending UMaine.

“The number one resource we have is each other,” Cain said.

Following Cain’s speech, a group of family members who lost a loved one to suicide was called to the front of the group. From the teary-eyed, to those smiling in celebration of their loved one’s life, each suicide survivor wore a necklace of multi-colored beads.

Each color had its own meaning in the struggle to raise money and awareness for suicide prevention. A necklace of orange beads symbolized that the person had lost a sibling to suicide, while a necklace of gold beads symbolized that the person had lost a parent. The beads were available to participants at a table underneath the tent.

“We are united in the goal of bringing suicide out of the darkness,” Cole said.

One group that has adopted this cause as its own is the Orono High School football team. The football players, who have been busy with their own fundraising and events, dedicated their only free weekend this month to participating in the walk.

“Our team thinks it’s a really great cause,” football coach Robert Sinclair said. “We recently lost one of our own to suicide.”

Sinclair is referring to Collin Bates, a former UMaine student and Orono football player who committed suicide in September of 2009.

“It really hit our kids hard,” Sinclair said.

Sinclair said that though his players had not been able to donate to Out of the Darkness, they would contribute a portion of their football fundraising proceeds to an Orono High School scholarship established in Bates’ memory.

Sinclair said his team will participate in Out of the Darkness every year for as long as he is their coach.

“You can count on having 40 Red Riots there next year as well,” Sinclair said.

Asquith said that she will continue to organize Out of the Darkness and that she is encouraged by the increased turnout and the positive feedback she has received.

“We set goals to help keep ourselves motivated, but success would have been if one person showed up today and was touched by it,” Asquith said.

Jennifer Vincent contributed to this report.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 26th, 2010, 11:14 pm. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.