Suicide awareness walk at Cape County Park North draws larger-than-expected crowd

Cape Girardeau's first suicide awareness fundraising walk, Out of the Darkness, took place Saturday at Cape Girardeau County Park North.

Organized by Laura Matlock and Jennifer Cagle-Huffman, two local women who've each lost a loved one to suicide, the walk attracted about 250 participants and raised $15,400 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, a national organization that builds suicide awareness and provides emotional support to those left behind.

Organizers had expected as few as 50 people to show up, and the fundraising goal was $10,000.

"I think it was a huge success," Cagle-Huffman said. "I think we made a big step in the right direction to get suicide prevention and awareness to our area. Next year we're going to double this."

Sitting at a table covered in educational materials and handouts was Victoria Dormeyer, an intensive level case worker at the Community Counseling Center and a friend of Matlock's.

"We have staff that is specially trained to assess for crisis situations and can help clients to get the services they need," Dormeyer said, "and she asked us to get involved and help in any way we could."

At the table with Dormeyer was Del McKinney, director of education at the counseling center. "One statistic I think people are not aware of is that in Cape County, from 2000 to 2009, there were 72 completed suicides," McKinney said. "... The normal pattern is 11 previous attempts before a completed suicide. And probably the No. 1 reason people don't get help is because of the stigma around mental illness."

According to the American Association of Suicidology, up to 70 percent of all people who die by suicide suffer from an illness such as depression or bipolar disorder, and male suicides outnumber female suicides four to one.

Many of those attending the event had stories of personal loss.

"I had an uncle years ago who committed suicide and also a former student who took his own life," said Sally Camden, a fourth-grade teacher in Perryville, Mo. "I'm always surprised when someone takes their own life because I'm such a believer in the future."

A few organizations brought members to the walk, including Sigma Nu, a Southeast Missouri State University fraternity. Ryan Manning, secretary of Sigma Nu, had roughly 20 newly pledged members there to participate in the walk.

"It's nice for the new members to see how much our philanthropy means to us. One of our brothers from the Baylor University chapter in Texas committed suicide, and we're here to support him and his family," Manning said. "We now have a philanthropy called the Mark Hudson Classic to raise money for suicide prevention. Every spring semester we hold a sand volleyball tournament and we donate the money we raise to the SEMO Suicide Prevention Foundation."

Typically the fraternity raises $1,500 per year at the volleyball tournament. For the walk, it raised $1,100.

At the end of the walk, participants released brightly colored balloons to honor the memory of lost loved ones.

"We were letting go of a little bit of sadness. It's a new beginning," Cagle-Huffman said.