The Rev. Canon Rhonda Mawhood Lee writes for Faith & Leadership about a 17-mile overnight walk for suicide prevention:
We were people of every color and size imaginable, on foot and in wheelchairs, teenagers to elders. We were families wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the name and photo of a lost relative, military veterans and police officers similarly attired in memory of a fallen comrade, and solo walkers grieving and honoring our own loved ones.
What brought us together was our shared dedication to ending suicide. We were all participating in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s biggest fundraiser, the Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk, held in two cities every year. This year, more than 3,000 walkers participated — 2,000 in New York in June and another 1,000 in San Francisco in May — raising over $4.5 million for suicide prevention and survivor support.
AFSP is a secular nonprofit organization that serves people of all faiths and none. Yet as I walked — thanking God when the torrential rain stopped after an hour — I was repeatedly struck by how much the church could learn from this event and its participants.