Info: Walk For Suicide Awareness and Prevention October 2 at Phila Art Museum

Thousands Walk to Prevent Suicide  ***  2016 Philadelphia Out of the Darkness Community Walk  Benefiting American Foundation for Suicide Prevention  Philadelphia, Pa., (September 21, 2016) –

The 12 th Annual Philadelphia Out of the  Darkness Community Walk takes place Sunday, October 2, 2015, at the Philadelphia  Museum of Art on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., and  the walk begins at 9 a.m.  The Walk is hosted by the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the American Foundation  for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). More than $500,000 was raised in 2015. An expected  5,000 participants from across the Greater Philadelphia area will attend.  AFSP Philadelphia Board President Jan Evans announced that the AFSP  Philadelphia “Buck in a Bucket” Suicide Prevention Program will be launched at  the walk. “Buckets will be a vehicle for fundraising but more importantly – the risk  factors of suicide will be printed on the buckets for people to see and understand,”  Evans said. “Our fundraising focuses on delivering community based programs that  help eliminate the loss of life from suicide by delivering innovative prevention  programs and educating the public on the risk factors associated with suicide.”  It is estimated that each year, nearly 1 million Americans make a suicide attempt, more  than 38,000 die by suicide, and more than 20 million suffer from depression; which is a  precursor to suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens and young  adults and the second leading cause of death for college students. Additionally, older  Americans over the age of 65 account for 16 percent of all suicide deaths.  To register for the walk, go to www.afsp.org/philadelphia.