MTSU students, faculty and staff are inviting the community to join them Wednesday, Oct. 24, to raise awareness about suicide, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention call the 10th leading cause of death in the United States.

Onsite registration for “Out of the Darkness,” a walk to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, will begin at 11 a.m. Oct. 24 at the Student Union courtyard.

The walk, hosted by the Department of Social Work at MTSU, is set from noon to 2 p.m.

There is no charge to participate.

Off-campus visitors attending the event should obtain a special one-day permit from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation at 1403 E. Main St. or online at www.mtsu.edu/parking/visit.php. A campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParking.

The MTSU event is one of more than 550 “Out of the Darkness” overnight, community and campus walks being held nationwide this year. These events raised more than $21 million last year for suicide prevention programs and services.

AFSP’s goal is to reduce the U.S. annual suicide rate by 20 percent by 2025.

Kat Cloud, the Tennessee area director for AFSP, said suicide touches 1 in 5 American families. The CDC reported that nearly 45,000 people killed themselves in the United States in 2016, the last year for which full statistics are available.

“We hope that by walking, we will draw attention to this issue and keep other families from experiencing a suicide loss,” Cloud said.

To register online or to donate, go to https://afsp.org/mtsu.

For more information, contact Dr. Justin Bucchio, an MTSU assistant professor of social work, at 615-898-2477 or justin.bucchio@mtsu.edu.

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 (TALK) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)