LANSING, MI - On Sunday, September 26th, the AFSP Michigan Chapter (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention - Michigan Chapter) held a Suicide Prevent Walk in Downtown Lansing.

The event went from 11:00am - 2:00pm at Adado RiverFront Park across from Lansing Community College to support anybody and everybody who struggles with a mental health condition, who has lost someone to suicide, and raise funds for suicide prevention with more than 1,000 people in attendance to bring awareness to the community. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States and one of the goals AFSP Michigan has is to reduce the National Suicide Rate by 20% by 2025.

"In the past we’ve been at Hawk Island, but the organization has outgrown that park and needed a new spot were we could be centralized were we could walk down the sidewalks in Downtown Lansing and take over were people will hear our mission, our voices, and make so much more of a change by being in the public view,” said Liz Baker, Chair of the Out of Darkness Walk. “Seeing it all come together this morning has been extremely heart warming and hope to be a huge day for hope and healing people."

Baker thanked the sponsors and everyone that came out to the event and added, “There's a whole community out there for people and we’re gonna see that community come together. I hope that the biggest take away for people is that this is temporary and there are resources out there to help people and they’re not alone and don’t have to struggle alone.”

If you know anyone that is suffering from the loss of someone to suicide or is suicidal, contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1.800.273.8255, or if you would like to learn more and get involved or donate, you can visit to their site below.