If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call 988. The hotline is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, 7 days a week.
Jeremy Baker of the Worth County Suicide Prevention Coalition reported at Wednesday’s regular meeting that he received orders for 36 shirts for the upcoming Suicide Prevention Run/Walk, which will be held Saturday, September 12th with registration starting at 7 am in the school parking lot and the run starting at 7:30 am. Twelve people attended Wednesday’s meeting; it was the most who had attended the meeting since the kickoff meeting several months ago.
Volunteers are sought for the upcoming run/walk, including for setup, monitoring traffic and runners, helping to shut down roads, and cleanup. Contact Jeremy Baker at (660) 254-5311 if interested.
The Coalition received a $2,500 grant a few months ago to train three people who will train up to 24 others to recognize and act on warning signs of suicide. That will mean that there will be at least 75 people who will be trained to recognize such signs when the training is done. One person who will take the training, Sheena Fletchall, attended the meeting and showed a care package she is putting together for people who are struggling with mental health issues, something she does. She takes donations of items that people no longer need that could be included in such care packages. The Coalition voted to approve the expense to train Ms. Fletchall. She said she had gotten a lot of interest in Nodaway County about training people in schools about suicide awareness.
Completing the training gives one a three-year certification to train others in suicide awareness. It is renewable for $100 at the end of the three-year period.
Rachel Brown talked about how the Harrison County coalition puts together care packages for people and gives out gun locks.
Grace Englehart of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reported that there are many free videos on suicide prevention in Missouri. She said she would send resources to the coalition.
Groundwork was laid for the Suicide Prevention event, including the run/walk as well as a breakfast to be held afterwards. It will tentatively include information about the coalition, door prizes, and a suicide prevention training.
Plans were made for possible activities after the event is over, including possibly sending cards to people around the county. Josh Kollitz said he had a lot of cards on hand. Mr. Kollitz invited the coalition to the Worth County Fall Carnival, which is being held the week after, on September 19th.
Jeremy Baker reported that he had distributed 1,300 gun locks in the area. He has 200 left.
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 10th at 5:00 pm at the Worth County Community Church (formerly the United Methodist Church).
