MARQUETTE - As the sun rose in the sky on Saturday morning, shadows lifted off a "memory table" in the Marquette Commons building as Carroll Ann Swanson looked at a photograph of her 19-year-old son Travis Martin surrounded by a poem and messages from friends and family.
Swanson lost her son to suicide in 1995 after he struggled with depression and alcoholism.
"Everybody in his life only had bits and pieces, nobody had the whole picture or it would probably have been pretty obvious," Swanson said.
Swanson, an organizer of Saturday's Out of Darkness Community walk, set up the memory table for participants to leave notes and pictures at the event, designed to commemorate loved ones lost to suicide and raise awareness for suicide prevention. After gathering at the Marquette Commons, participants walked to Picnic Rocks and back. The event was put on by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Great Lakes Recovery Center and was sponsored by LASCO.
Alyson Luff, local walk chairwoman, lost a friend to suicide and helped start the walk last year. She said she hoped to have 200 walkers this year. The group's online fundraising total on Saturday was about $1,500 and does not include donations brought in during registration.
"It's a good idea to get people out and aware about suicide prevention and mental awareness," Luff said.
Their goal is to raise $5,000 for AFSP and locally funds will benefit Great Lakes Recovery Centers, an organization that helps those with substance abuse and provides behavioral health treatment.
Not only does the walk raise funds, but also brings people together who share similar experiences, said Swanson. Coming to terms with her son's death was a process for Swanson and her daughter and they attended a suicide support group soon after it happened. However, now there is no support group in the area and Swanson and other organizers hope to get one started again.
"So many of us feel very alone when we lose somebody this way, and we're not," Swanson said.
Swanson has learned that many people falsely believe that those who say they want to commit suicide won't actually do it. In fact, Martin would refer suicidal acquaintances to Swanson, a therapist, to get help for their problems.
"He was able to help and support other people in a way that he was not able to accept for himself," Swanson said.
Swanson's daughter has done longer Out of the Darkness walks in New York and Seattle, raising about $5,000 for the organization. The money from these walks goes towards a cause that Swanson and her family feel strongly about.
"I think it's important that we talk about suicide and depression so that people understand that there's nothing to be ashamed of and that there's hope that people can get better," Swanson said.
Luff said people can still donate online at www.outofthedarkness.org. Donations can be made to the local event until midnight on Dec. 31.
Those interested in joining a suicide support group can contact Great Lakes Recover Center's Greg Toutant at gtoutant@glrc.biz.
