Suicide walk raises money for prevention

Red is for your spouse or partner. Gold is your parent. White is your child. Orange is for your sibling.

Purple is for a friend or relative. Green is for your own struggle. And blue is because you support the cause.

There was a huge turnout Sunday morning for Out of the Darkness, a walk to raise suicide awareness, which began at Memorial Stadium.

According to the Out of the Darkness website, the purpose for the walk, which takes place in over 200 communities nationwide, is to raise money for research and educational programs dealing with suicide prevention.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention partnered with other groups, such as the Monroe County Suicide Prevention Coalition, to make the walk possible.
Those involved wore bead necklaces of different colors to show how suicide had affected them.

Ed Schwartzman wore white beads and handed out fliers for “My Suicide,” a movie premiering in Bloomington on Friday.

Friday is also the third year anniversary of the death of Schwartzman’s son, Ben.
Since then, Schwartzman has been involved in many groups dedicated to suicide awareness.

He has worked for the last 45 days to bring “My Suicide” to Bloomington. He said he hopes it will get people talking about this taboo topic.

“Without question this is a movie my son and I would’ve seen. It makes you think,” Schwartzman said.

He said he doesn’t know whether his son would still be alive if they had seen a film that talks about suicide and its effects so openly, but he believes there is a good chance.

James Uland, a part-time student at Ivy Tech, wore gold and blue beads to the event.
He said he heard about the event in a campus-wide e-mail.  Uland said his father was a victim of suicide, and he believes that raising awareness is
important.

“This has gotten me aware of the help out there,” he said.

Erin Gillingham stood at the booth for the non-profit organization To Write Love on Her Arms. She said she interned there last spring, and the cause resonated with her so deeply that she chose to stay with the group.

“We try to inspire hope. To tell people hope is real, help is real,” Gillingham said.
She said her participation in the group helped her while she was struggling with emotional problems.

To Write Love on Her Arms serves as a bridge to professional help, Gillingham said. They invest heavily in treatment and recovery, and often partner with groups for suicide prevention.

Schwartzman said events such as these that bring the topic of suicide into the open are the first steps toward prevention.

“Every expert says the key is to start the conversation,” he said.
For Schwartzman, the death of his son was a tragedy he will never forget. But he has learned to move forward.

“There’s nothing I can do to bring my son back,” Schwartzman said, “But hopefully I can save others.”