Mary Weiler: Thank You, HPR

Thank You, HPR

To the Editor:

On behalf of the ND Chapter of the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention I want to sincerely thank the Fargo-Moorhead Community for helping us raise more than $50,000 at the Fifth Annual Fargo-Moorhead Out of the Darkness Community Walk held this past Sunday at Lindenwood Park.

Together we are making a difference by showing our support, by being a safe place for those who are struggling, and by honoring each other and those we have lost to suicide. The Fargo- Moorhead community is that place where we gain strength every day to make a new and fresh beginning.

We thank The High Plains Reader for their continued support of our walk, our generous sponsors Riverview Family Dental, Gate City Bank, Sanford Health, Prairie St. John’s, Hanson-Runsvold Funeral Home, The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, R.D. Offutt Company, Bouldger Funeral Home, and the many other area businesses that donated monetary and in-kind items. We also wish to thank everyone who participated and volunteered as they made it all possible.

Every dollar raised through the Out of the Darkness Community Walk is used by AFSP to help fund research, develop new survivor of suicide loss support groups in our local communities, provide educational resources and events to our local high schools and colleges, and host the National Survivors of Suicide Day Healing Conference on Saturday November 20th at various sites throughout ND (more info at http://www.afsp.org/northdakota).

Every year, with our community’s support, the Out of the Darkness Community Walk is reaching out and saving lives. If you were unable to attend our walk you can still donate online through December 31st, 2010 by visiting http://www.outofthedarkness.org.

Thank you Fargo-Moorhead for bringing suicide out of the darkness and into the light.

-Mary J. Weiler
Fargo

The writer is ND Chapter Board Chair, Survivors of Suicide Loss