7th Annual "Walk a Mile in My Shoes"

Suicide Prevention Walk

The 7th Annual "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" Suicide Prevention Walk, a community-wide event to raise awareness, raise money for local suicide prevention efforts, and to support those affected by the loss of a loved one to suicide will take place on Saturday, May 5, 2012 in Eldridge Park beginning at 11:00 AM.

From its modest beginnings of 500 walkers over five years ago, local support for this event continues to grow each year as have the funds raised by the event itself and direct donations from individuals, businesses and organizations.  Last years' event drew over 1900 participants, raising over $37,000.  Funds gathered from the event remain local by supporting numerous suicide prevention initiatives for youth such as school-based programs like Signs of Suicide, Sources of Strength designed to teach and expose middle, and high school aged children to prevention and peer-based support skills. 

Additional support is provided to the community by offering gatekeeper prevention trainings through safeTALK and ASIST.  SafeTALK (suicide alert helper training) continue to be offered monthly across the community as well on request for groups and organizations at no cost, and over 1200 individuals have participated in this training.  ASIST, an advanced suicide prevention and response training is offered several times throughout the year in our region. 

The Walk a Mile event has also allowed Chemung County to sponsor an annual National Suicide Survivors Day program, which, in conjunction with a local panel of experts, provided education, support and discussion for persons coping with the enduring difficulties of losing a loved one to suicide.

The participation of loyal walkers each year, and the events continued growth will allow Chemung County to remain one the most progressive suicide prevention counties in the state of New York.  Please visit the Walk a Mile in My Shoes website at www.walkamile.net to learn more details, history of the event more and register for this important event.  Bring yourself, a team, or simply make a donation through our website, and help us keep our community at the forefront of education and prevention about the tragedy of suicide. 

SUICIDE:
More common than you think. . .
More preventable than you know!

For more information go to http://www.walkamile.net/ or call 737-2052.