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

September 22, 2016 by HughE Dillon

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

Walk

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.

Philadelphia

Gia Allemand dead at 29, as her fellow Bachelor contestants and friends gather in Philly for The Annual Hamels Foundation Reunion

August 15, 2013 by HughE Dillon 1 Comment

Every year The Hamels Foundation has their star studded charity event which raises money to provide support for quality education in the United States and establish a school
in Malawi, Africa.(It’s tonight)

Besides many of our favorite Phillies players, celebs and local celebs,
it has the distinct pleasure of hosting the Reality Stars from ABC’s
The Bachelor franchise, which includes The Bachelor, The Bacherlorette
and Bachelor Pad. This year the Bachelors are attending with heavy
hearts as their good friend, and fellow contestant on the Bachelor Gia
Allemand (center in 2011) passed away yesterday.

Craig Robinson, Cole Hamels, Tyler Vermette, Chris Lambton, Gwen Goia,
Alli Travis, Jackie Gordon, Jesse
Csincsak, Ann Lueders, Gia Allemand, (I’m missing a few names)

One person who stood out was Gia Allemand. So sweet and excited to come this year with her boyfriend, NBA player Ryan Anderson of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Reviewing her twitter timeline, and talking with her friends, it was a
complete surprise for the turn of events that she decided to take her
life. The papers say it was because of her faltering relationship,
perhaps he decided not to come to Philly to attend the events and she
didn’t want to see her friends, or deal with a heavy emotion such as a
break up in public. Or maybe the pain was to dark, and she didn’t see a way out, or want to live in a world without Ryan, even though so many people from around the world loved her.

I think I’ve talked extensively about my suicide attempts (when I was in my 20s), and all I can say is at that point, the pain seems to be so unbearable. I wish we both knew about American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
during those dark hours. No doubt she knew she was loved by so many, I can see it from the out
pouring of grief on Social Media, and by the interactions she had with
people right up until her suicide. But when you are in that moment, those moments, the pain is so unbearable that you can not see passed it.

Last night as her friends came into town, they first went to the Top of the Tower for a low key SIPS happy hour, but left as it was crowded and they realized they just needed to be together, sitting around, eating dinner at Sampan, and celebrating their friend Gia Allemand. They may be smiling in this photo for me, but I can tell you they were all shocked and devastated, many barely holding back their pain. They conveyed to me that through the Bachelor experience they have made strong connections and friendships from the show; a tragedy like this brings them closer together, and it’s more important than ever to support each other. A few of them just saw Gia last week in NYC at the screening of the finale. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No doubt many of them are re-living their last encounter with Gia to see if there was something amiss. But sometimes it’s something that can’t be seen.

Craig Robinson, Frank Neuschaefer, Ashley Spivey, Chris Bukowski, Sarah Herron, Reality Stars from The Bachelor and Bachelorette and current hosts of HGTV’s ‘Going Yard’, Peyton and Chris Lambton

Sadly for her friends and family this great loss will linger a lifetime. If you need grief counseling, or just someone to talk to you can contact

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and they will give you the tools to deal with this tragic loss.