Kevin Rutledge's Memorial Fund

"The brightly burning soul that was Kevin Rutledge left this world by his own hand on 12/10, my sister's son and my friend.

He lived more life in his short time than many of us will ever dream of doing. Maybe you heard him bird-dogging presidential candidates when he worked for the AFSC in 2016. Maybe you danced with him as he worked festivals in Australia. Maybe you saw him blazing down the trail on his motorcycle in Thailand. Maybe you hung with him at a show or cheered him on the catwalk donning the wildest of fashions with glittery shoes. Or, maybe you were one of the many people that he walked you down off the brink and pulled you up out of the suicidal depths.

That's how he did, whenever and wherever he would drop everything to be with those who were in pain and needed an ear, a human, someone to see them.

Our hearts are wrenched and the world will miss you, but I very literally hope you are now resting and in peace, my dear. Without Kevin around the rest of us will need to step up----take a pause today and notice each other just a bit more, see if anyone needs your attention. Even for a moment.

And maybe put on some glittery shoes.

The new Suicide Prevention hotline is 988, easy peasy to call."

-Ruth Hampton (Kev’s Aunt)

We are heartbroken to have lost such an incredible soul, but determined to turn our grief into something magic, which is what Kev was all about!

Donations will be used to help with costs related to his Celebration of Life in Minneapolis (1/7 12-4pm Open Book Minneapolis), as well as in Iowa.

Any remainder will be donated to local suicide prevention non-profits, as chosen by the family.