BRIMFIELD, Ill. – Help is available to people who have entered a dark moment in their lives is among the messages provided through Whitney’s Walk.
The 21st annual Whitney’s Walk for Suicide Prevention and Awareness stepped off Saturday at Jubilee State Park, The event consists of a 5k timed run and a 5k walk.
Whitney’s Walk is named in memory of Whitney Grotts of Brimfield, who died by suicide in 2004 at the age of 16.
All proceeds from Whitney’s Walk stay in Central Illinois to fund educational resources and programming about mental health and suicide prevention through the Hult Center for Healthy Living. The funds help health education specialists and licensed clinical professional counselors to spread the message from Whitney’s Walk to schools throughout the area.
Nearly 700 participated in Saturday’s Whitney’s Walk raising about $61,000. Even some four-legged friends were on hand supporting the event.
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“Really it’s trying to bring awareness and reduce the stigma of suicide,” said Andrea Parker, Executive Director of the Hult Center for Healthy Living, “knowing it’s all right to reach out and ask for help because nobody really wants to die.”
“It’s trying to make it so people don’t feel vulnerable when they’re in those dark spaces that they can’t reach out and be accepted and get some help.”
Parker says erasing the stigma also means knowing how to discuss suicide.
“Such as the word ‘committed,'” Parker said. “We prefer and try to educate not to use the word committed. You think about ‘committing a crime,’ it has a negative connotation. So, it’s really death by suicide. They’ve taken their life, they’ve chosen suicide. It’s more of a noun as opposed to a negative activity.”
The event is especially meaningful to Parker, who lost her father to suicide in 2019.
Parker hopes people are more sensitive to their loved ones, especially if they are seen headed to a dark space,
“Reach back in. Don’t just push them away because they don’t want to be bothered,” Parker said. “It’s really getting closer to them at that time when when they really want to be alone, so you let them know you do care and you support them.”
Going into Saturday’s event Whitney’s Walk had raised nearly $1.8 million.
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