Drive-thru event gives those who don’t have Thanksgiving plans some holiday cheer.

Being involved with suicide prevention has saved my life. My name is Kevin Roop, and I am a board member and treasurer for SpeakUp ReachOut. Our organization is committed to preventing suicides in Eagle County through training, awareness, and hope.

The names on the paper butterflies were familiar — Nate, Taylor, Luke, David, Todd, Olivia — members of the local community who died by suicide. On Saturday, family members and friends remembered those losses and gathered in a spirit of community. They also dedicated themselves to the work that will prevent new names from becoming part of the paper butterfly display next year.

If there is one thing SpeakUp ReachOut would like you to know during the month of September, it is that you do not have to be a mental health professional to make a difference in someone’s life. September is National Suicide Prevention Month and SURO is offering 13 free trainings and events throughout the month for you to get involved and learn how to provide hope to someone in need.

SpeakUp ReachOut hosts a community walk and memorial every September. The walk is a 3-mile loop in Freedom Park in Edwards. The event will also feature Anne Moss Rogers, an expert in mental health, suicide prevention and grief. She will share her story of the loss of her teenage son’s death by suicide. Through her “Turning Pain into Purpose” speech, Rogers identifies how to support those who are suffering from the loss of a loved one to suicide. Molly Fiore Booker will also hold a Benediction ceremony to honor those we have lost to suicide.

Our community was amid a behavioral health crisis. Like many of you, this crisis profoundly impacted me personally and professionally. I knew I wanted to help my community, but I wasn’t sure where to begin. I had recently attended a Speak Up Reach Out QPR training and decided I needed to do more. So, I spoke up and reached out. I was elected to the board of directors of Speak Up Reach Out in November 2018.

Septiembre es conocido en Estados Unidos como el mes de la prevención del suicidio, y la organización local SpeakUp ReachOut estará ofreciendo 13 entrenamientos gratuitos a lo largo del mes para informar a la comunidad sobre como ayudar a alguien en crisis.

If there is one thing SpeakUp ReachOut would like you to know during the month of September, it is that you do not have to be a mental health professional to make a difference in someone’s life. September is National Suicide Prevention Month and SpeakUp ReachOut is offering 13 free trainings and events throughout the month for community members to get involved and learn how to provide hope to someone in need.

Happy Hour get-togethers — often conducted vitually during our COVID-19 days — have become a touchstone for lots of isolated folks. With that in mind, SpeakUp ReachOut, the Eagle River Valley’s suicide prevention coalition, has a plan to transform happy hour into an opportunity to give everyone a mental health boost with its first-ever Hope Hour event.

In recent weeks, SpeakUp ReachOut has received a lot of questions about the number of deaths by suicide we have in our county. People want to know how that compares to COVID-19 deaths. Thus far, Eagle County has seen…