‘You are not alone in this fight.’ Candlelight vigil to raise suicide awareness in Bannock County

POCATELLO — A candlelight vigil will kick off Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in Bannock County.

The vigil is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, at Lookout Point in Pocatello. A proclamation, signed by the mayors of every city within the county along with the Fort Hall Business Council, all Bannock County Commissioners and Bannock County Coroner Torey Danner, will be read to state those cities’ intentions to combat suicide.

“The biggest thing is to show that we’re all standing together,” said Danner, who is spearheading this event and the suicide prevention efforts in the county. “This is us putting our best foot forward to try and make a change, or at least pool our resources together to help provide that change.”

With this vigil, Bannock County is launching its Please Just Stay campaign to prevent suicide. That campaign will include, among other things, a website — PleaseJustStay.us — which will serve as a compilation of all mental health and suicide prevention resources available in the county.

“For me, this is an opportunity to be proactive in a very reactive job,” Danner said. “Each community is going to have issues. Each community is going to have things that they’re trying to work through. This is trying to pool all our resources.”

In a Facebook post promoting the event, Danner says that suicide’s “far-reaching” effects touch every facet of the Bannock County community. His hope is to inform those struggling with mental health or other issues that “you are not alone in this fight.”

And, as he told EastIdahoNews.com, it is a “big thing” for all involved to carry these efforts beyond September.

“Although it is suicide prevention month, this isn’t something that only lasts a month,” Danner said. “It’s important to me that we make sure that we are always cognizant and always working towards this goal throughout the entire year.”