Suicide Prevention Awareness Walk draws crowd despite weather concerns

Veteran's Memorial Park is a place of remembrance for local fallen heroes in past wars.

On Saturday, October 7, the park became a sight for hope as more than fifty walkers gathered to take a stand for Suicide Prevention awareness. The event was sparked by Suicide Prevention Awareness Committee (SPAC) member Gina Lamb of Malta.

"There have been a lot of suicides along the Hi-Line unfortunately in the last few years," said Gina Lamb, who also works with the Phillips County Coalition for Healthy Choices. "There is a good showing here and I am pretty excited about it."

SPAC started meeting in March of this year.

Several groups were represented in the three-mile walk, including the Phillips County Sheriff's office, Malta Parks and Recreation, Malta Public Schools, Malta Girl Scouts, Malta Boys Scouts, Malta Middle School Builders Club, the Local Advisory Council, Phillips County Hospital and Health Clinic and the Phillips County Health Department.

The walk was a free-will donation event in which the proceeds were raised for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). In total, the event raised $1700.

The event is modeled after the AFSP Out of Darkness Walk hosted yearly in Billings, an event that Lamb has participated in since 2008.

"The reason I attended that walk is because my nephew took his own life at the age of 19," Lamb said. "It's something that I have actually wanted to bring to Phillips County because it is a very important topic."

Lamb shared her story with the 32 volunteers and walkers in a group gathering before the walk began.

According to AFSP data composed in 2015, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in people aged 45-to-54 and the second leading cause of death for people aged 10-to-44 in the state of Montana.

"The goal of our suicide awareness is just to get people together to talk about it and recognize that it is a problem and to work on prevention, with the young people especially," County Nurse Jenny Tollefson said. "This was just a starting point to bring awareness to the community."

Tollefson received a grant that helped make the event possible.

The event had people of all ages, from two-year-old Rosemary Green to 77-year-old G. L. Jones, who wasn't even the oldest in attendance.

"It's just a patriotic thing to do," Jones said. "I think suicide touches everybody. It seems so sad because it is the second killer of young adults in Montana. That's bad news. A guy wants to make himself visible and make the cause known."

Nurse Tollefson shared her thoughts on the event's turnout.

"I am actually thrilled with the turnout so far," she said during registration.

Malta experienced three to five inches of snowfall last Monday, October 2, while Zortman had up to 14 inches.

"We didn't know how the weather was going to be and in October there are so many busy things with volleyball and hunting and soccer, so I am just thrilled to see this many people here honestly."