By Caleb Kritchevsky, Staff Writer
A new acronym at RJR is bringing new awareness to an old issue: S.A.F.E.T.Y., or Suicide Awareness for Every Troubled Youth, is a suicide prevention group founded by Reynolds senior Mariah Rowdy, who needs your help.
On Saturday (May 16), the organization is holding a student-run event on campus. The SAFETY Walk takes place from 10 a.m. to noon and is free. It will feature a walk that follows the same course as the Matt Gfeller run earlier this year.
The event also will feature people speaking about suicide awareness and prevention on the Gfeller Stage, organizations with donation opportunities, and food trucks. The SAFETY Walk allows students to learn about suicide awareness – many clubs are offering service hours for those who attend to learn about this topic.
Rowdy was inspired to create SAFETY after she saw someone on social media say that they were going to kill herself.
“A lot of people didn’t know how to respond to that, so I decided to create a student-run help center,” Rowdy said. “I started it last year with the help of the superintendent,” she added. Rowdy is part of Beverly Emory’s Student Advisory Board.
The purpose of the safety walk is to help promote this organization, and to raise awareness about teen suicide rates and guide students toward suicide prevention resources like the helpline and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“I think this is a good tradition that we are starting here at RJR,” Key Club adviser John Clevenger said. “We hope to see a lot of people come out.”
Rowdy and other members of the SAFETY Club were interviewed for WXII Channel 12 News last week. To see that news clip, follow this link.