Mississippi walks to raise suicide awareness

The annual Mississippi Gulf Coast ‘Out of the Darkness’ Walk was held over the weekend to help raise awareness for the fight for suicide prevention.

The walk was hosted by the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention’s Mississippi Chapter and was held on Saturday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.

Participants began the trail south of the Coliseum, walked east along the boardwalk and then turned back around. The trail was a total of a mile and a half.

This year, the foundation offered the option to walk virtually at any location as well.

This walk is one of about 550 ‘Out of the Darkness’ Walks being held nationwide this year. Out of the Darkness Walk Chair Theresa Danko said, “With mental health, it’s kind of kept quiet. It’s mainly most people feel shamed or that they can’t speak out about it. So, when we have these events like the Out of the Darkness Walk, it raises awareness throughout the community and you can touch lives that you don’t even recognize.”

These walks across the country are expected to unite more than 300,000 participants and raise millions for suicide prevention efforts.