The walkers wore different colored bead necklaces based on their own experiences with suicide.
- White: Loss of a sibling
- Red: Loss of a spouse or partner
- Gold: Loss of a parent
- Orange: Loss of a sibling
- Purple: Loss of a relative or friend
- Silver: Loss of a first responder or military personnel
- Green: A personal struggle or suicide attempt
- Blue: General support of awareness
- Teal: Friends and family members of someone who struggles or has attempted suicide.
Ball State's Alive-AFSP chapter meets weekly at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays in the Student Center, Room 301.
Though the Ball State Alive chapter fell short of its $5,000 fundraising goal for its annual Out of the Darkness Walk April 12, it is still accepting donations until the end of June.
The organization paired with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to put on the event for the fourth consecutive year.
Ball State Alive-AFSP, which recently became recognized as an official AFSP chapter, aimed to raise $5,000 this year. Organizers could not be reached for the official amount raised April 12.
Last year, the group exceeded the goal and raised $5,292.
Brandon Puszkiewicz, a junior social work major and chairman of the walk, said the success of the walk wasn’t defined by how much money they raised, because any amount of money helps in the cause.
“Any money we receive today is good, even if we only receive $10, that’s $10 more that we’re using to provide education and support for families,” Puszkiewicz said. “[The walk] really does raise awareness, this group is going to be walking on campus, people are going to turn their heads and wonder what’s happening, and that’s exactly what we want. They’ll see the banner, they’ll see AFSP and they’ll know that we’re walking for suicide prevention.”
Andrea Hickle, a junior social work major and president of Alive-AFSP, said the event was important to her because she has struggled with mental illness and suicidal thoughts, and has friends who have struggled as well.
About 80 people registered for this year’s event. The group had tried to attract walkers through social media and student organization meetings, but Puszciewicz said the other philanthropic events going on this weekend on campus made it difficult to attract people.
Before the walk began, Hickle, Puszkiewicz and two AFSP members welcomed everyone and gave personal testimonies concerning suicide. The participants walked from the Atrium courtyard down McKinley Ave. to the Scramble Light and throughout the rest of campus for about an hour.
Rosie Hickle, Andrea Hickle’s mother and one of the walkers, said she came to walk to support her daughter and others.
“[Andrea] struggled with depression and suicide and I did too when I was in college, and so I wanted to support this cause that I also relate with,” Rosie Hickle said. “The beads were helpful because without talking about it, you could still know people’s struggles.”
One of the goals of the organization and the event is to get rid of the stigma attached to mental illness and suicide.
“It’s important to start talking about it, start talking about mental illness, start talking about suicide and start talking about what we can do to make sure that this isn’t as large of an issue as it is,” Andrea Hickle said. “[Suicide] is huge and I feel like it’s rarely talked about.”
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