Walk for HOPE and to spread kindness
Participants in the 2023 Walk for HOPE head away from Dog Beach and toward the walking bridge across Lake Pend Oreille to call attention to suicide awareness.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)
Jennifer Wyman, founder of Hold On Pain Ends, a nonprofit dedicated to suicide awareness, talks to participants in the 2023 Walk for HOPE before they head out on the annual walk.
Participants in the 2023 Walk for HOPE walk across the walking bridge as they take part in the annual event, which aims to call attention to suicide awareness.
Participants in the 2023 Walk for HOPE get their picture taken at Dog Beach as they wait for the start of the annual event, held Sunday, Sept. 3.
Participants in the 2023 Walk for HOPE head away from Dog Beach and toward the walking bridge across Lake Pend Oreille to call attention to suicide awareness.
A couple take a moment to reflect as they sit on a bench on the walking bridge as they take part in the 2023 Walk for HOPE on Sunday, Sept. 3.
A participant in the 2023 Walk for HOPE writes a message on a balloon during Sunday's annual event that aims to call attention to suicide awareness.
Participants in the 2023 Walk for HOPE are pictured on the walking bridge as they head back across Lake Pend Oreille during the annual event that aims call attention to suicide awareness and raise funds for programs.
Mira Gunter and Peyton Guercia walk back across the walking bridge as they take part in the 2023 Walk for HOPE. The annual event aims call attention to suicide awareness and raise funds for programs.
A bowl of bracelets handed out during the 2023 Walk for HOPE. On the outside, "smile" and "Hold On Pain Ends" are embossed. On the inside, a lifeline: "Crisis? Text 741-741" — the Suicide Prevention text line.
One of the signs adorning the walking bridge during the 2023 Walk for HOPE, held Sunday, Sept. 3.
A Walk for HOPE participants ties a balloon to one of the signs adorning the Long Bridge during the 2023 event.
Walk for HOPE participants wait for the start of the 2023 event.
T-shirts line a table at the 2023 Walk for HOPE.
One of the signs adorning the walking bridge during the 2023 Walk for HOPE, held Sunday, Sept. 3.
A Walk for HOPE participant has fun as she rides back across the walking bridge during the 2023 event.
SANDPOINT — Spread kindness.
Smile.
Support others.
Those simple ideas can have a big and powerful impact, Jennifer Wyman told the 150 or so people gathered for Sunday's eighth annual Walk for HOPE (Hold On, Pain Ends).
"You just never know what someone is going through and what they're carrying on your shoulders, day to day," she told the walkers as they prepared to set across the Long Bridge. "So just keep in mind that you can always make a difference in someone's life by even just a simple smile or just a kind thought that you share with them."
Wyman encouraged the crowd to actively practice kindness, reminding them that no one truly knows what is going on in someone's life.
"I love seeing so many people come together and just spreading kindness, and smiling and supporting each other," she added.
Wyman's goal to break the shroud of secrecy around suicide and mental health has been one that Hold On Pain Ends has been spreading since 2015, when the Wyman family lost their daughter, Madi, to suicide at the age of 14. A freshman in high school at the time of her death, Madi Wyman was a member of the JV soccer team and was involved in both her church youth group and 4-H.
To honor the teen, the Wymans formed the nonprofit as well as the walk, held on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, as a way to kick off Suicide Awareness Month.
Participants said they felt it was important to attend the annual walk to show their support for the cause of suicide awareness and to let those who are struggling know that they are not alone.
It is important, they said, to come together as a community, to show love and empathy, and to let those who are struggling know that things will get better. To have hope in something — and to see the visible demonstration of community support — sends a powerful message, said one walker as a car sped by on the Long Bridge, its horn honking repeatedly in support.
Knowing you aren't alone can make a tremendous difference, said walkers, some saying they have either struggled in the past or know others who have. Knowing that others care, that there is support, and that they aren't alone made a tremendous difference, they said.
For Mira Gunter and Peyton Guercia, the walk was personal. They know the Wyman family and have a friend who died by suicide. They wanted to support the Wyman family and others who have lost loved ones to suicide. They said they wanted to help call attention to suicide and to support programs that exist in the community to help those who are struggling.
"It's really heartwarming that everyone comes together to be supportive because, like [Jennifer Wyman] said, nobody knows what people are actually going through," Quercia said. "It means a lot to have people gather around together to show their support."
Gunter agreed.
"It's amazing to see how many people came out to support others and to show everyone they are loved," she said.
Those struggling can be adept at hiding their pain, said Penny Farmin, who said she came to the walk to help get the message out about suicide awareness and to support the cause.
"I think it's really easy to not see it," Farmin said. "And I think that's the hard part, because families don't see that, and people can be in trouble before it's really even known. And so, just to try to keep a heightened awareness."
She encouraged everyone to make it a point to practice kindness toward everyone and understanding toward those who are struggling.
As the walkers headed away from Dog Beach, some were carrying baby blue balloons with messages written on them. Others were carrying flat river rocks with messages of hope or inspiration to hold onto, maybe one of fear and worry to chuck out into the cold depths of Lake Pend Oreille, sending the rock and the fear into oblivion.
Many had a bright blue plastic bracelet — or several — with both a visible and hidden message. On the outside, "smile" and "Hold On Pain Ends" are embossed. On the inside, a lifeline: "Crisis? Text 741-741" — the Suicide Prevention text line.
Information: walkforhopesandpoint.org
