Hundreds hit the pavement for suicide prevention walk in Windsor, Ont.
Lacing up your sneakers for a cause took new meaning Sunday as hundreds pounded the pavement to support suicide prevention in Windsor.
The walk was hosted by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), where participants trekked either two kilometres or five kilometres around the St. Clair College main campus.
Organizers say any given day, we lose 10 people to suicide and the walk is a community effort to allow healing, connection and a renewal of hope.
“So to have a walk to really allow healing, connection and hope to be renewed is so impactful for someone that has been impacted by suicide loss,” says Jenny Lee Almeida, a mental health educator at the CMHA.
It also included special donations from a number of families who hosted community events throughout the year in honour of people they have lost to suicide.
“What's beautiful is it stays within the community to further support training resources, and to meet people where they're at struggling with thoughts of suicide to know that help is there,” adds Almeida.
The CMHA estimates this event alone will collect $30,000 for local programming to support families coping with suicide loss, grief bereavement and suicide prevention.
“To varying degrees, we've all come together and we've been impacted by suicide. So we've come together to say ‘Hey, let's recreate hope. Let's heal and let's get through this together because we're not alone,’” Almeida says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.