OLIVET, Mich — On Saturday, March 30, 2019, Olivet College will host their second annual Out of the Darkness Walk. The Out of the Darkness Walk, sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, raises awareness of suicide and mental health issues. The event is free and open to the public; donations are welcome.
Registration and check-in will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Olivet College Square and the walk will begin at 10 a.m. with an opening ceremony. The event will end at noon. The walk route takes participants through campus and the town of Olivet, a total of three miles with an optional halfway stopping point.
Jeremy Duby, director of bands, John Moore, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology, and junior Abigale Smith worked together last year to coordinate the event. They are teaming up again this year to host the walk. This year’s event will continue to expand conversation about mental health and suicide prevention.
“The Out of the Darkness Walk is important because of the messages it sends,” Moore said. “It demonstrates that we recognize that suicidality is something that many people struggle with, that we care about this and that there is hope. The overall message is a positive one, and we want to show that even when things are particularly dark and painful, it is possible to get through them.”
Smith believes the event will inspire change both at the College and in the Olivet community.
“Not only are we raising awareness of mental health and suicide prevention, we are also raising funds to be able to bring mental health resources to our campus, which we’ve already started doing with the funds raised from last year’s walk,” Smith said. “We’re not just hosting an event and forgetting about it. We’re initiating real change on campus, and we need support from the OC community to help us create that change.
“This event is important because it’s allowing us, as a college and as a community, to expand the conversation on mental health and suicide prevention. This is a positive way of shedding light on a sensitive subject and letting students know that they’re not alone and have a support system here at Olivet College.” To register or donate, visit www.afsp.org/olivetcollege. Participants can also register on the day of the walk. For more information about the event, contact Rachael Cieslik at 269.749.7619 or rcieslik@olivetcollege.edu.
