OUT OF THE DARKNESS COMMUNITY WALK

WALK WILL RAISE MONEY
FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION GROUP

http://blogs.fredericksburg.com - Every 15 minutes, a person in the United States dies by suicide, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. More than 36,000 lives are claimed annually, and suicide is the second leading cause of death for teens and young adults in the nation, according to the AFSP. For the past four years, Fredericksburg area residents have participated in Out of the Darkness Community Walks to raise awareness and money to prevent suicides.
Sarah Adams and other Courtland High School students started the Spotsylvania chapter of Out of the Darkness in 2008 after three of their classmates committed suicide within a year and a half. Adams said she and a friend approached a guidance counselor about starting the chapter after the tragedies, and school officials were very supportive. This year, the 5k local walk at Spotsylvania Courthouse Village will take place Oct. 20.

This local Out of the Darkness walk is one of more than 200 taking place across the nation this fall. Proceeds from the walks go to the AFSP, a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to funding scientific research, increasing education and awareness of mental health disorders, promoting policies and legislation that impact suicide prevention and providing support programs for those affected by suicide. Since 2000, the AFSP has given more than $10 million in grants to scientific research on the neurobiological, genetic, epidemiological, clinical, psychological and sociological aspects of suicide, says the AFSP website.
Although a financial donation is not required to participate in the walk, Adams said the goal is to have 300 participants in the local walk and to raise $20,000 for the AFSP. The organizers already have surpassed their goal for participants, with 338 registered as of Oct. 12.  Adams said the community and local businesses have responded well to the cause over the past five years.

“We would walk a million miles to see you smile one last time,” 
read a T-shirt of an attendant in the community walk.

In the United States, a person dies by suicide every 15 minutes and it is estimated that an attempt is made every minute. AFSP is urging the state Legislatures to adopt a bill that would require suicide-prevention training for teachers and other school personnel. “Out Of The Darkness Community Walk” event is held in many places across the USA to bring awareness to the problem with suicide. At the walk, attendees could put photos or name tags of loved ones on a commemorative wall. Some photos featured young people in graduation robes or parents with children in better times. “We want to measure their lives by how they lived, not by how they died,” said Ms. Wallace, an event organizer. Today, more than ever, we should go into Spirituality which can provide inner joy and free us from frustrations and suicidal tendencies.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that mental diseases - stress, depression, addiction and psychosomatic problems - will be the greatest health hazard of the current century. Worse still, WHO statistics show that over one million people commit suicide every year. This is more than the total annual deaths due to wars and crimes combined. And this figure is only the reported number of suicides. Mental disease in general and suicide in particular has many causes. But the common origin is frustration in achieving one's goals, whatever they may be. When this frustration rises to an acute and hopeless degree, one feels one's very existence to be an agony. And the ending of one's existence appears to be the only solution to that agony. It is then that the person commits suicide. ... Spirituality is not just a part of our life; it is the essence of our life. Stephen Covey, well-known author of the Seven Habits series, aptly remarks, “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”

Śrīpad Chaitanya Charan das :
“The Spiritual Scientist”
“When Science Points To Spirituality”
Vol 3 Issue 1 - http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2011/12/when-science-points-to-spirituality/

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/