Yellow is for Hello

Josh's Benches for Awareness On April 7th, 2012 my sister died by suicide. She was 20 years old and had her entire life ahead of her. Anyone who knew Emily, knew what a fun, beautiful, and happy person she was. No one did or would have known the struggles that she must have been facing.  800,000 people die from suicide every year. That makes one person gone every 40 seconds. That means a family and community shattered every 40 seconds. 

I never want anyone to have to feel the pain that comes with losing a loved one to suicide. After almost Seven years, I am finally feeling like I can openly talk about the loss of my Sister. I want to make a difference.  I want people to know that help is out there. I want the stigma surrounding suicide gone.  Just because someone does not say something, does not mean they are okay. My sister had no history of depression. she had tons of friends, a supportive family, and her whole life ahead of her. By most people's standards she would have been the last person that they would think would not want to live. Emily even went to he gym the day that she died. Unless someone reaches out and says something, there is no way to know the struggles that they are dealing with. 

This is why I was so happy to find Josh's Benches For Awareness. This organization is doing so much to let people know that help is out there and how to get it. They put bright yellow benches in parks and public locations with suicide crisis line information. We have sponsored a bench in memory of Emily. The bench will be placed in a park that she went to with her friends and where she found her Charlie Cat.  

I would greatly appreciate if you could donate any amount to this amazing organization. They are truly doing great things and would be able to do so much more with more funds.  Eventually they would love to have benches in every school, so that students had a daily reminder that someone cares, and that there is help. 

All donations go directly to Josh's Benches for Awareness, non-profit organization.



More information about Joshs Benches for Awareness (Joshs Benches for Awareness):

JoshsBenches.com

Josh's Benches for Awareness Corporation is a 501(c)3 charitable organization dedicated to raising awareness on mental health issues and promoting suitable resources to remove the negative stigma surrounding the receiving of help. We participate in assemblies and speaker events to try and spread valuable info that will hopefully one day be incorporated into student curriculum. The benches that we build and install serve as physical symbols that represent our talks, any local campaign or movement surrounding mental health, and are also safe places for students to refer to for help. The benches are bright yellow so that whoever notices them and reads them will know that they are not alone and that there is help out there for them.

http://joshsbenches.com/

National Suicide Prevention Helpline
1-800-273-TALK

Text CONNECT to 741741

Maybe if my sister or one of the 800,000 people that die each year from suicide sat on one of these benches, they would still be here today.