A group of students at Athens State University is putting together an event to help raise funds and awareness for suicide prevention. The students will host a half-mile walk starting at Founders Hall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. According to to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, in 2018, the latest reported data, there were 48,344 suicide deaths in the United States, with suicide the second leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 34.

In order to help raise funds and awareness, the AFSP began hosting “Out of the Darkness” campus walks at universities and colleges.

Camilla Anne Lockridge, the secretary for the Athens State chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, said she proposed the idea for the walk as a potential community project, and other members of the group were on board.

“We do a community project like this every semester,” Lockridge said. “Our president wanted us to come up with ideas, and we had a lot of good ones. The AFSP is a national organization that shines awareness and raises funds and services for suicide prevention and mental health issues.”

Lockridge said SHRM would like to extend a welcome to anyone in the community who would like to participate in the event. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and campus guidelines for social distancing will be followed, with water, snacks and facial coverings provided.

“We, as students, feel a great importance to support this cause given that these issues greatly affect students in our age range, especially during the trying times due to the ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19,” she said.

Lockridge said she had participated in a AFSP walk previously, which gave her the idea to pitch a similar event to the group.

“As HR professionals, we recognize the importance of mental health in the workplace, so we hope this event can reach out and help any and all who might be struggling with these issues,” she said.

Visit bit.ly/ASUpreventionwalk for more information about AFSP, to register for the walk or to donate.

“The Athens State SHRM is dedicated to the community, and we feel this is an important cause and are proud to be involved with AFSP,” Lockridge said.