(May 15, 2008)--Five Baylor students started a 4,500-mile bicycle trip to Anchorage, Alaska Thursday that was inspired by a friend who tried to kill himself because he said he had nothing to live for.
His five friends vowed if 250,000 people joined a Facebook group promoting suicide prevention, they would give him a reason to live.
Two weeks later, they reached the 250,000 mark and by a month's time it grew to 300,000
The ride, dubbed the "Alive Campaign," is sponsored by Ford, and supported by Baylor University's Student Life Services Department.
"There area lot of other people who deal with depression and you know dealing with suicide dealing with attempts. Now he knows that he's not alone and people care about him," said Justin Brown, one of the Alive Campaign riders.
Thousands of people have expressed their own feelings, experiences, and stories on the campaign website.
"Personally that's the biggest motivation for me is knowing that this is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds in the United States and that it's just really not addressed like some of the other things that are happening in our society," said rider Kyle Ferguson.
They say that support to help promote suicide prevention will be one of their greatest sources of strength, along with their faith.
The journey is expected to take all summer.
The students will document and update the ride on their Internet site.
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(Source: Baylor University)
As they make their trek through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Yukon Territory and eventually Alaska, the students will stay with Baylor alumni, who have been contacted by the Baylor Network to provide a place for the team to rest and recharge during their journey.
Along the way they will film a documentary on the power of friendship, adventure and the stories of those who have battled depression and suicide. Alyson Erikson and Andi Nakasone are both majoring in film and digital media at Baylor.
Early in the process of organizing the Alive Campaign, the students worked closely with Dr. Susan Matlock-Hetzel, staff psychologist at the Baylor Counseling Center, taking it “upon themselves to learn as much as they could about the topic of suicide in order to be better informed advocates for those who had no champion,” she said. The students have taken Baylor’s QPR Certified Gatekeeper Training Course on suicide prevention. QPR stands for “Question, Persuade, and Refer:” how to Question someone about their suicidal thoughts, communications, or behaviors, how to Persuade someone to stay alive and get help, and how and where to Refer someone at-risk to the next level of intervention.
As a non-profit organization, the Alive Campaign hopes to establish a university chapter system to foster a peer support community and to continue spreading awareness and education locally, especially among high school and college campuses.
The students have been provided with a van to keep them safe on their journey and also house their film crew and equipment.
On March 11, the Alive Campaign made a national appearance on mtvU, as they hosted the music video show, “Dean’s List,” and spoke about suicide prevention: http://www.mtvu.com/video/?id=1583108&vid=215219. They will host the show again, filming their segment this summer while on the road.
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