Out of The Darkness

In February of  2008 I received a call from a college friend. We spent awhile on the phone talking, laughing, remembering our days at NMU and making plans to see each other again soon.  The following day he took his own life.  The previous year I awoke at 5 am to the sound of my neighbors gut wrenching screams. She lost her son to suicide that day.  "Every 16 minutes someone in the United States takes their own life. Depression affects more Americans than coronary heart disease, cancer or AIDS. Depression is a serious illness". On September 12th of this year Dickinson County will be holding the first  "Out of the Darkness" community walk  for the prevention of suicide in our area. This is an event that is very close to my heart.  If you have been affected by suicide I encourage you to join this cause.  You can support this cause in more than one way. You can become a part of the planning committee. Because it is the first event in our area we need a lot of help planning. The information for that meeting is listed below.  You can form a team. Register at
http://www.outofthedarkness.org/  and walk in support of someone you've lost. Or you can simply donate to the cause. Several local business have cans up in their stores,  the committee is selling bracelets 2 for $2 or you can visit  http://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&eventID=827&participantID=47350 to donate to my walk or enter the name of someone you know and donate to their walk.  Every little thing helps.  Losing my friend to suicide was one of the hardest things I have had to endure in my lifetime and If we can save just one family from this pain it would be worth every minute and every penny spent. 
Organizational -Planning Committee Meeting “Dickinson County Area Walk” for Suicide Prevention and Awareness
Date : Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
Time: 6pm
Where : Northpointe B.H.S.
715 Pyle Dr. Kingsford, Michigan 49802
Board Room -Rear Entrance- back of the building
Contact: Chair - Diane Kallenbach (906) 282-8973 or loveiswalking@yahoo.com
Contact: Co-Chair Tina Tappy (906) 774-0273 or teetappy@charter.net
The “ Dickinson County Area Walk” is part of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention” Out of the Darkness Community Walks
One can register to walk at or make a donation at www.outofthedarkness.org
www.afsp.org