INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State University’s (WVSU) Counseling Services and Department of Health and Human Performance are sponsoring a Health Expo and Out of the Darkness Walk on Thursday, April 21.
The Health Expo is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside the James C. Wilson University Union. The Out of the Darkness Walk will begin with an opening ceremony at 12:45 p.m.
The Health Expo will consist of cooking demonstrations, a rock wall and vertical leap, fitness testing, mental health screenings, yoga, Naloxone training, Turning Sorrow into Service – The Journey of Jon Brown, vendors, and more than 25 community agencies and wellness information tables. Some organizations represented at the Expo include the American Lung Association, Women’s Health Center of WV, Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE), YWCA RESOLVE, CAMC Ryan White HIV Program, FamilyCare Health Centers, and others.
The Out of the Darkness Walk is a partnership with WVSU Counseling Services and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). Anyone can register to walk as an individual or with a team. The walks are the AFSP’s signature student fundraising series, designed to engage youth and young adults in the fight to prevent suicide. Participants can walk to support a friend, a loved one, or themselves.
“Suicide is a leading cause of death among college-age students,” said Kellie Toledo, director of Counseling Services at WVSU. “The purpose of this walk is to raise awareness of suicide, prevention, as well as mental health issues. We want to make sure students know the resources available to them and that help is available.”
The AFSP says depression, bipolar, anxiety disorder, and other mental health conditions will affect 1 in 4 people and too often the illnesses go untreated. In the United States alone, someone attempts suicide every minute.
Participants may walk as long as their time permits. To register for the walk or make a donation,
click here.
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West Virginia State University is a public, land grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi-generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service, and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.