The Connecticut chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) hosted an Out Of The Darkness Walk this past Sunday as a part of Suicide Prevention Month events.
The event included registration for the walk, an opening ceremony, an honor bead ceremony and a 3.2-mile walk from Town Center Park to Rails-To-Trails and back.
Signs for the event ran all the way down Dixwell Avenue in Hamden, and volunteers and ambassadors from local organizations greeted guests and welcomed them to visit their stations, where they would receive badges, beads and t-shirts.
“This was my first year being able to volunteer for the event,” said Leah Reed, a volunteer at the event “I’ve wanted to in the past but I was never able to. This event is so special though. It touches people in so many different ways and that’s why we have so many different colors of beads that people are holding onto.”
Visitors were able to walk to the opposite side of the check-in table in the center of the park and pick out beads that they would later wear during the walk.
The heavy-duty buckets were filled at 10 a.m. but as the first hour passed, the bins began to empty as dozens of residents stopped by to grab beads to honor their friends, family members, or even their own struggles with mental health and suicide.
Throughout the morning, individuals rushed to Michelle Peters, the chair of the AFSP Connecticut Chapter and organizer of the event. From September to November, the AFSP hosts multiple events to raise awareness for Suicide Prevention, with all 70 chapters of the foundation running an Out Of The Darkness Walk in their respective region.
“We run probably 20 fundraisers a year here in Connecticut including campus walks, Hike for Hope, dog events and all types of one-off events every spring,” Peters said.“Getting more people out for this cause is what we really want. Spreading hope is our goal and we hope we can provide to people not just today, but every single day.”
Another volunteer at the event, Kara Sepuvelda, a program assistant at the Quinnipiack Valley Health District, said she wanted to raise awareness for a cause that was affecting where she works.
“I got involved in the walk after realizing how many of the overdoses we were seeing were actually intentional,” Sepulveda said. “Finding the AFSP was amazing, knowing that there are so many people right here in Connecticut that are very passionate about helping others search for answers to the hard questions that have been stigmatized for too long.”
Even though Suicide Prevention Month ended in September, AFSP will host more events. For the next three weeks, the ASFP will host events on Oct. 9 in Bristol, Oct. 16 in Hartford, and Oct. 24 in Fairfield if you are interested in joining the ASFP as a volunteer or want to get involved in future local events, visit the Connecticut chapter’s website here.