Out of the Darkness walk

Saturday's Out of the Darkness walk was a success on so many different levels:

Emotionally - It was an important day for so many families who gathered to remember the ones they love. Pictures of the deceased adorned many of the personalized tshirts.
Financial Success - The money raised will be used in various ways. One of them is that they have implented programs in many of the schools in the Acadiana region to raise awareness and offer help to kids in need.
Awareness - the word suicide makes people uncomfortable. But it is indeed an illness, a mental illness, that is as real as cancer or other illnesses. The more people know about it, the less obscure it becomes, and the more they will be willing to learn about how to deal with those that need help.

I decided to walk in Jamie Hubley's memory, a 15-year old who after battling depression, ended his life not even 2 weeks ago. He'd also been bullied for being openly gay. I posted a picture of Jamie, a beautiful soul, on the 'Memory Wall':

Before they released the balloons, they named so many names of people that had committed suicide. Jamie's name was called.
I wrote "Be Free." in my balloon.

Here's to Jamie.

There's still time to donate to this cause, up until December. Follow this link if you want to (it's a secure site):

http://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&eventID=1338&participantID=226674