ALBANY, NY (WRGB) — A thousand people filled the University at Albany lawn today, turning the campus into a powerful call for mental health awareness and suicide prevention for the school’s 16th annual Out of the Darkness event, aimed at reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment. For the second year in a row, the walk raised more than $30,000 for suicide prevention efforts. Last year, it was the third-highest mental health fundraising event in the nation.
Advocates at the event said the goal is to make conversations about mental health as routine as other forms of health care, and to push people to get help before a crisis.
“36 years ago I lost my dad to suicide and there weren’t events like this there were people you could talk to but it wasn’t as open and honest,” said Dan Egan, the National Board of National Law and Security Northeast New York chapter chair…