BOISE-- The Greenbelt is always filled with people running, biking and walking. On Sunday, a group of more than fifty walkers could be spotted on the Greenbelt.
Some held pictures, others had homemade shirts and everyone carried memories of loved ones lost because of suicide.
"My dad committed suicide in 2009 so when I heard about this from my mom, I was like 'Wow, I really need to do this,'" said Brittni Hanrahan. "It's really important."
Sunday's Out of the Darkness Walk was organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).
"Out of the Darkness Walks are certainly a way for us to bring the stigma that is suicide out of the darkness into the light and make people understand that it is not a weakness of character but it is actually a mental illness," said Jo McNeal, the Pacific Northwest director for AFSP.
"It is really amazing to see how many people it affects and you don't really know about it," said Hanrahan.
When people registered, they were given necklaces. Every color necklace represented a connection to suicide. A white necklace meant a parent's child committed suicide, gold was a lost parent, and purple beads meant a friend had committed suicide.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Idahoans between the ages of 15 and 34. Research by the National Alliance on Mental Illness shows that 90 percent of people who commit suicide struggle with a mental illness or substance abuse problem. In 2009, 307 people in Idaho committed suicide, according to the Health and Welfare Department.
"Having this is important to me because it kind of makes me remember my dad and kind of support him in his life," said Hanrahan. "This isn't a time of mourning on the walk. It's a time of celebrating the life that they did have."
The money raised from Sunday's Out of the Darkness Walk will be used for research and education programs to help prevent suicides and save lives.
