BROOKINGS – Suicide is no stranger to Brookings or South Dakota. In fact, South Dakota ranks seventh out of all 50 states for its high suicide rate.

As the community and state continue to experience the loss of family and friends to suicide, there is help and hope through raising awareness about suicide and funding prevention programs.

One of those awareness efforts is Step Forward to Prevent Suicide, an event featuring a 1 1/2 mile walk, a 5K fun run and a remembrance ceremony to be held April 29 at the Student Union at SDSU.

The Helpline Center is working with Lost & Found, an SDSU campus suicide awareness and prevention organization, to put on the event.

Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. on April 29. When participants arrive, unless they’ve pre-registered at the Helpline Center website, they will need to register at the registration table set up in the Student Union.

People who want to register online can go to Helplinecenter.org, and on the home page, under the featured stories, click the “Step Forward to Prevent Suicide” story to find a link to register. The same story and link can also be found after clicking through to the Our Events page.

There is no registration fee for the events; however, donations and fundraising are encouraged. Event T-shirts are on sale for $15 each on the day of the event. All of the proceeds from the event will stay local.

At 9 a.m., the fun walk and the 5K will start, with the walkers first being sent off and then the runners immediately after.

Once they return from their walk and run, music will be playing at the Student Union until the remembrance ceremony begins.

Tara Johanneson is this year’s spokesperson for the ceremony. She will speak about her experiences since her father committed suicide 15 years ago.

Those who have lost someone to suicide can write that individual’s name on an index card to be read aloud.

“This is to make sure we’re giving the lives of our loved ones that have been lost due credit and letting people know that they are still in our thoughts,” explained Janet Harvey, the events coordinator at the Helpline Center in Sioux Falls. “It’s a very nice ending to our event, and that pretty much wraps it up.”

It’s a chance to show everyone they’ve got hope for healing, and there will be resources available to help people through their grief.

Through this program, they’ll raise awareness and support for the Helpline Center’s local suicide prevention services and survivor support programs.

In addition to honoring those lost to suicide and providing hope and healing for participants, part of the purpose is to raise funds and awareness for the Helpline Center’s services and resources.

The Helpline Center is available for calls 24/7, 365 days a year. It can be reached via the 211 phone number or by calling 1-800-273-8255.

South Dakota State University students can also make use of their crisis texting program, where students can text “SDSU” to 898-211 to begin.

“You never know when something is going to hit you and maybe it’s a family member or a friend and maybe they need to reach out. We are always here, and we have fully trained and very knowledgeable, educated staff to help. If we need to intervene, we certainly have resources to do that,” Harvey said.

Every year, they answer about 1,500 suicide-related calls, whether the caller is the one at risk, is calling regarding someone who is, or is seeking help following someone else’s suicide.

For the latter, the Helpline Center has resource packets that they can send to help process the complex emotions and questions they might have, as well as help guide them to other resources that are available.

“We operate a monthly support group that any person who has lost a loved one to suicide is welcome to attend. That’s the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m.,” said Helpline Center President Janet Kittams-Lalley. “We also offer an educational class, which is eight weeks in length, and we offer that three times a year. That’s more of a psycho-educational group where we talk about a specific topic, such as anger or guilt, and do some education with the group members and then also just have them share their personal experiences surrounding the topic.”