First-annual event aims to increase awareness, raise funds
Rain did not hinder the spirits of more than a hundred walk participants Sunday as USC hosted its first Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walk.
The walk was put on by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) in hopes of providing support for those who have lost a loved one to suicide and to raise awareness about suicide.
Walk organizers Anne Evangelista and Corinne Mercogliano, both fourth-year students at USC, hoped to raise $5,000 for research and education about suicide and depression. Evangelista said that with the donations they received Sunday, they were able to exceed the $5,000 goal.
And while the walk lasted about an hour, the efforts to raise that money began before anyone laced up their shoes Sunday afternoon.
Evangelista and Mercogliano held percent nights at restaurants like Which Wich and Yesterday’s Restaurant and Tavern, took donations online and sold suicide-awareness wristbands.
The event kicked off with a handful of speakers, including Frank Anderson, pastor of the Lutheran Campus Ministry; Student Body President Chase Mizzell; Dr. Meera Narashiman, the chairwoman of USC School of Medicine’s Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science; and head football coach Steve Spurrier.
Spurrier said he wanted to be a resource in preventing suicide as he recalled the death of former USC football player Kenny McKinley in 2010.
After the speeches, walkers set out on a 2.4-mile course that took them around the Horseshoe to Sumter, Blossom and Pickens streets before ending at the Russell House. Participants were encouraged to stop at Capstone House to take a water break and sign a memory board with their reasons for participating in the walk.
Although the main goal of the day was to raise funds for the AFSP, Evangelista said she hopes that the walk will become a new tradition at USC and throughout Columbia.
“It just really affects the community as a whole,” Evangelista said. “It’s affected the football team, it’s affected the counseling center and it’s affected student organizations, and they’re all coming out for this. It just shows the broad spectrum of everything.”