Join Samaritans, our volunteers, and other members of NYC’s ‘caring community’ on Sunday, September 29, as we come together to celebrate our 7th Annual Walk to Prevent Suicide and Save Lives.
It's now been a little over 10 years since I last answered a call for the Samaritans Suicide Prevention Hotline - and yet the organization and the people I met along the way continue to shape me in every aspect of my life. I'm so excited to have the chance to cheer on those doing this very important work every day, and to find my way back in some small way to a place that has remained in my heart for over 15 years.
The walk, along the lovely Hudson River Park in Lower Manhattan, will focus positive attention on a public health problem that is too often sensationalized and considered taboo.
Funds raised from this event will go towards Samaritans 24-hour crisis hotline, whose volunteers have responded to over 1.3 million calls; a public education program that has trained over 40,000 health providers; and support groups that have helped thousands of people who have lost loved ones to suicide.
With 1-in-5 Americans experiencing depression each year, most of us know someone who struggles with mental health-related problems, yet very few of us make charitable donations to support suicide prevention services.
Since leaving Samaritans, I've become a mother to two amazing kids, Owen 3, and Norah almost 2. I hope with all my heart that they grow up happy and full-filled, kind and generous, empathetic and outspoken. I hope that they become the listeners, the non-judgemental shoulders for friends, the ones who stand up for those who can't stand on their own. I hope that they become the next generation of Samaritans - answering the calls, sitting with survivors, educating the public, and advocating for policy change. And I am re-assured that with your support Samaritans will always be here should they ever be the ones in need.
So please contribute to my efforts—as well as countless Samaritans friends and volunteers—in support of this wonderful organization that helps people during their most difficult times. Every donation is 100% tax-deductible.
