HAYC3 Sponsors Community Walk To Prevent Suicide

submitted by Deb Alter
For the fourth year in a row, hundreds of people will walk through Hoosick Falls carrying candles. The goal is to raise awareness about depression and suicide and provide comfort to those who have lost loved ones to suicide.
[private]Suicide is a serious public health problem that takes an enormous toll on families, friends, classmates, co-workers and communities as well as on our military personnel and veterans. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is among the ten leading causes of death in the US. Even more alarming, it is among the top three causes of death in teens and young adults.
Mental illness and depression are debilitating diseases that strike too many people in our community and our country. Suicide is a somber, sorrowful and unfortunately too familiar tragedy in our community. HAYC3 and the Suicide Prevention Walk participants are joining together in the hopes of raising consciousness about the seriousness and depth of this issue. Research shows that 90% of people who die by suicide have a potentially treatable mental disorder at the time of their death – a disorder that often has gone unrecognized and untreated. People need to know.
Hoosick Falls’ Suicide prevention Walk encourages everyone to participate. Saving lives, increasing national awareness and assisting survivors of suicide loss is a matter of great importance. Please join us in working towards that goal on Sunday, October 6, starting in Wood Park at 6 pm. Come walk with us.
For more information about the walk, contact HAYC3 at 518-686-9050 or contacthayc3@gmail.com. For more information about suicide and the underlying depression and other related mental illnesses, visit http://www.afsp.org.[/private]