Hundreds of SF Bay Area Residents Walk for Suicide Prevention This Fall

San Francisco, CA, July 27, 2013 --(PR.com)-- This year, across the United States, hundreds of people affected by suicide and mental illness will walk in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Community Walks. These walks are an effort to provide support and healing for survivors of suicide and those living with mental illness; to build awareness about and erase the stigma of suicide and mental illness; and to fund suicide prevention and mental illness treatment initiatives.

The San Francisco Community Walk will take place on Sunday, September 22nd at 9 am at Lake Merced. Walk registration begins at 8:00 am.

The need for suicide prevention, treatment and intervention for mental illness, as well as erasing the stigma surrounding mental illness and suicide is needed now more than ever.

· According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide has increased by almost 30% in the age group from 35 to 64.
· Last year, more members of the armed forces died by suicide than in combat, at a rate of almost one suicide per day among active duty military.
· Suicide now eclipses heart disease and car accidents as the leading cause of death among middle-aged Americans.

Participants walk in honor of their loved ones, as survivors themselves, and to raise awareness about this issue. Teresa F. walks “because I believe in a better way and through investment, intention, and illumination we can collectively find solutions that will provide hope and healing for those who suffer from mental disorders.” Says Jennie G., “Why I walk is not because ‘it's there’­— I walk because they are not there anymore.”

AFSP’s San Francisco 2012 walk raised over $110,000 and included over 1,000 participants. This year’s walk includes sponsorships by John Muir Behavioral Health, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Running Creek Casino, and many other Bay Area organizations that are showing their support for this national health issue in our communities.

For more information, please contact Ryan Ayers, Area Director of the Greater San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of AFSP, at 707.968.7563 or Rayers@afsp.org, or visit www.outofthedarkness.org. Follow us on Twitter at @afspsfchapter.