My circle of close friends is a diverse group. It includes a Costco employee, the guy I work with on the radio every morning, a homemaker/retail clerk and her police lieutenant husband, a meteorologist and his registered nurse wife, a CEO, a salesperson and a news director. Within that circle there is not one person whose life has been untouched by someone's suicide.

Whether it has been a family member or friend, an acquaintance or a person only known to us through a work or social connection, all of us have experienced the shock, sadness and confusion of the situation surrounding someone who ends their own life.

I have acknowledged, in previous articles which I have written, my own struggles with depression, addressed the history of it in my family and recalled my younger sister's suicide attempts. It is not a foreign subject to me.

The statistics are staggering and tragic. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death overall and the second leading cause of death in the 15 to 24 year old age group. There is a suicide in our world every 40 seconds. Women contemplate it and attempt it more often than men, but men are more likely to succeed.

But behind all these statistics are people. People who mattered, were needed and loved and didn't see a way forward in their lives. And here in Sioux Falls we have people who are trying to help everyone get past the misconceptions about suicide, comfort those who have lost loved ones, remember those lost and provide information about warning signs and ways to prevent it.

This Saturday, June 20, 2015 at Falls Park, beginning at 8:30 A.M.,The Helpline Center is holding the Fourth Annual Step Forward to Prevent Suicide event. There will be a 1.5 mile walk, 5K fun run, a remembrance ceremony, live music from local musician Bryan Wehrkamp and a balloon release.

You can register or simply donate here. All funds collected are used to raise awareness about suicide and support The Helpline Center's suicide prevention and crisis support programs.

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