About the Cause
Net proceeds from the Out of the Darkness Community Walks will benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to fund research, education and advocacy programs, and to reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide.
To fully achieve its mission, AFSP engages in the following Five Core Strategies:
- Funds scientific research
- Offers educational programs for professionals
- Educates the public about mood disorders and suicide prevention
- Promotes policies and legislation that impact suicide and prevention
- Provides programs and resources for survivors of suicide loss and people at risk, and involves them in the work of the Foundation
The Foundation's activities include:
- Supporting research that is improving our understanding of suicide and its prevention. Since 2000, AFSP has invested over $10 million in new studies, including research into treatments for people who are depressed and suicidal.
- Providing education and information about depression and suicide to professionals, the media and the public through workshops, trainings, the AFSP website, videos, publications, brochures and public service announcements. AFSP's PSA, "Suicide Shouldn't be a Secret," has reached 90 million television viewers.
- Publicizing the magnitude of the problems of depression and suicide, advocating for policies and legislation that can help prevent suicide and working to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness and suicide.
- Offering programs for survivors of suicide loss that can be of assistance and involving survivors in suicide prevention. AFSP survivor initiatives include the National Survivors of Suicide Day program, which was broadcast to over 200 communities and was simulcast on the AFSP website, the Survivor e-Network and trainings for survivor support group facilitators.
For more information about AFSP or how funds from the Out of the Darkness Community Walks will make a difference, download AFSP's annual report or visit www.afsp.org
