May 17, 2025:

THANK YOU to everyone who supported our program after the robbery. Thanks to the creativity of local friends and online supporters, we were able to gather many of the needed supplies locally.

Big Bend Community College held an Ice Bucket Challenge during our event, where the BBCC President and several staff participated in raising awareness about mental health. Beginning this fall, Big Bend will begin offering its newest applied bachelor's degree program in Behavioral Health!

We are so thankful to Catherine LaMarche-Horney for painting this beautiful canvas for our Graffiti Art station. Over 120 students and staff participated in the event and filled out the exit survey.

Big Bend Community College Associated Student Government with Catherine's canvas at the end of the event:

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At Centralia College, our sixth event, 125 students checked in at the Counseling Services table. Participants filled out an anxiety or depression assessment and had a brief consultation with one of the counselors. Two students painted a beautiful canvas featuring the Centralia mascot for our event!

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At Pierce College Puyallup campus, we discovered that students were so inspired by our previous events that they launched a Mental Health Club on campus! Mental health clubs on college campuses are student-run groups that aim to support mental wellness, break the stigma around mental health issues, offer peer support, and provide a safe space for students to share experiences and talk openly.

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We’re continuing our Washington State community college tour with a meaningful stop at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom. There, we created a safe and supportive space for students to openly share their mental health challenges, discuss suicide prevention, and explore ways to support one another. A total of 79 students fully participated in our program and completed surveys to share their feedback and suggest ideas for future events. Many more took part in at least one activity and engaged in courageous conversations about recognizing the warning signs of suicide, navigating mental health struggles, and accessing help.

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THANK YOU SO MUCH to our hosts @everettcommcollege and everyone who has been sending messages of support over the weekend! @postsecret @morleyartist The remaining replacement materials arrived 20 minutes (!) before the event start time and we were able to put on an amazing successful event with over 120 students participating! We couldn't have done it without the outpouring of support and everyone who pitched in a helped: we repainted the lost canvas (thank you Tosha and Jessica for donating the paints), reassembled our displays (thank you, Casey and Mike), and we able to ship most of our supplies across the country (thank you, Denise, and everyone who made a donation!!! ❤️

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A smash-and-grab left our team without critical suicide prevention educational materials meant to help prevent college suicide. We're raising funds to quickly replace what was lost and continue our mission of spreading hope and awareness.

On Friday night, May 3rd, 2025, two of our teams flew in from Columbus, Ohio, and San Diego, CA, after putting on 2 suicide prevention events at Ohio Northern University and Palomar College

With 8 more events planned at Washington State Community Colleges in the month of May we needed all hands on deck.

After landing at SEATAC airport, 6 suitcases of materials were left in a rented minivan at Sleep Inn near the airport at 1am. Having done 300 events, over the last 15 years, the last thing we thought was that someone would steal tablecloths and laminated materials. Sometimes between 1am and 11am, the van was broken into and 5 out of 6 suitcases weighing 50 lbs each were stolen, after the side window of the van was smashed. The only bulky case that was hard to take out the window was left.

One of the items stolen was a custom backdrop created by the artist Morley in collaboration with Frank Warren of Postsecret, featuring unique secrets mailed to Frank. "We Are Not Scared Of Your Secrets" was a powerful educational display that shows program participants that they are not alone in their struggles, whatever they are, however painful they are.

We have reached out to Seattle police and filed a report. Our next event is at Everett Community College on Tuesday, May 6th. We are very lucky to have a friend in the area who invited our team to stay over and recover emotionally, while trying to assemble what we can to continue providing our life-saving program.

We will not be able to recover all of the original secrets that were shared by students all over the country over the last several months. All the other materials can be gradually reprinted, relaminated, replaced, and overnighted.

We are SO thankful to all the friends and supporters who reached out, sent messages of support and offers of help.

If you happen to come across any of the materials dumped somewhere in Seattle area, please let us know.

IMALIVE Mental Health Fair was created in 2010 to combat growing suicide rates among college students. This interactive and educational program has held over 300 events across the US, including Purdue University, VCU, Colorado State University, Florida State University, Cleveland State University, and dozens of others. This program helps thousands of college students learn more about mental health, how to recognize warning signs, how to get help and support for their depression, anxiety, or other mental illnesses, and how to support a friend struggling with thoughts of suicide.

Learn more at www.imalive.org

Restore Hope: Help Replace Stolen Suicide Prevention Materials

By IMALIVE

Restore Hope: Help Replace Stolen Suicide Prevention Materials