On Sept. 12, at Lakemont Park, the Blair County Suicide Prevention Task Force organized their eleventh annual Out of Darkness suicide awareness walk. 

“We try to bring others in the community just to bring awareness to suicide prevention, and not leave it in the darkness,” task force member Lindsey Wagner said.

In years past, they have walked at different locations.

“We’ve done it here [Lakemont Park], this is our fourth year here, before that we have done it at Mansion Park. Our first one was at Penn State Altoona and in between we had one at the Altoona High School field that’s no longer there,” event organizer and task force member Cindy James said.

“Our hope is to continue to have it here because I think it’s a convenient location and a good venue for it,” Wagner said. 

A total of 28 teams signed up to fundraise for the event.

“Half of it [money raised] goes to the national level, half of it stays here [community level],” Task Force member Jennifer Stubbs said. “But for national it goes to research and advocacy, the making of suicide prevention programs and awareness and the trainings. And then we’re able to bring that back into our county with the money we have raised here.” 

“We’ve done things for families in the moment of crisis, different baskets for grieving when they lose somebody,” Wagner said. “Just mental health literacy, awareness, billboards, materials we hand out, Lights on the Lake, which is just materials promoting what we do in the task force. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is the larger umbrella.”

“AFSP is who we walk under, but the Blair County Suicide Prevention Task Force coordinates with them to do all this,” James said.

Some walkers suffered the loss of someone they knew to suicide while others walk to raise awareness.

“We are walking here today for families in our community, who are walking on behalf of someone they lost or someone they knew in some capacity,” Wagner said.

One team that walked that day was the “Live Like Wyatt” team, who walked for Wyatt Lansberry. The team brought many people who knew Wyatt together.

“He was my dad’s friend’s child, so we often went over to his house,” sophomore Mason Dale said. 

Many people lose their loved ones unexpectedly, without getting to say anything else to them.

“I would tell him, ‘you were really great to talk to,’” Dale said.

If you or a loved one is experiencing suicidal thoughts or displaying suicidal tendencies, please call 1 (814) 946-2141.