Flower Mound to host Second Annual Suicide Awareness Walk on Nov. 1

by PegNews wire

Teams are being formed and walkers are signing up for Denton County’s second annual “Out of the Darkness” 5K Walk to raise money for education and suicide awareness. The event kicks off at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1 at Parker Square in Flower Mound, with registration and a brief program. The walk begins promptly at 9:30 a.m.

Last year’s walk attracted 164 participants and raised $20,000. The funds go to the National Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, with half the money will be designated for local programs to educate people about suicide.

The walk was organized by Sue Endsley of Flower Mound, who lost her teenaged son to suicide. She also serves as organizer and leader of the four-year-old support group, Touched by Suicide, which meets from 7 to 9 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 5500 Morriss Road in Flower Mound. The group is open to the public at no charge and attracts parents spouses, adult children, relatives and close friends of people who have died as a result of suicide. Eight to 10 people typically attend each meeting, and anyone who has been touched by suicide is invited to participate at no charge.

“It is a safe place where people can talk about their feelings and what they are going through,” Endsley said. “The other people there completely understand how they feel. It’s like we’re all in a club we don’t want to belong to.”

Since the first fund-raising walk last fall, a second grief group has been formed with meetings set for 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month at Vista Ridge United Methodist Church at 2901 Denton Tap Rd. in Lewisville. Anyone interested in attending should contact leader Martha Giles at 972-420-7270 for more information.

“The 2007 walk started as a grassroots effort to make the public aware of the problem of suicide and how it impacts those people left behind,“ said Kathy Kettenbeil of Double Oak, who with her husband, Peter, formed a team to walk in memory of their young adult son. “But it became more than that. It turned out to be a true outpouring of support and love.”

Now chairperson for the 2008 walk, Kettenbeil is seeking donations of money, goods and services from local businesses. Last year, Moritz Auto, Le Peep and Corner Bakery sponsored the event with food and beverages, and Wal-Mart of Lewisville made a cash donation. Kettenbeil also hopes that more walkers will take part in the walk to demonstrate their support for those people left behind.

To register for the walk, go to www.outofthedarkness.org and click on “community walks.” Locate the Flower Mound walk and sign up online to participate or sponsor a team.

While people applaud Endsley for her many volunteer hours devoted to both the group and the walk, “I did this for selfish reasons,” she said. “And it has helped me, being able to talk to others who are in the same position.”

Posted by Chad