HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP) – A police lieutenant in Hadley is running the Boston Marathon in 2024 to help raise awareness and education about suicide prevention.
Hadley Police Lieutenant Jesse Green is running as a representative for the police department. His goal is to raise $10,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), a volunteer organization that invests in new research, creates educational programs, advocates for public policy, and supports survivors of suicide loss.
The CDC reports that suicide rates increased by approximately 36% between 2000 and 2021. Suicide was responsible for over 48,000 deaths in 2021, about one every 11 minutes. The number of deaths by suicide has increased in 2022, up 2.6%.
Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Dial 988 or Text the word talk to 741741
Experts caution that suicide is complicated and that recent increases might be driven by a range of factors, including higher rates of depression and limited availability of mental health services. But a main driver is the growing availability of guns, said Jill Harkavy-Friedman, senior vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Suicide attempts involving guns end in death far more often than those with other means, and gun sales have boomed, placing firearms in more and more homes.
As of Tuesday, Lt. Jesse Green has raised $2,175 to help raise awareness of preventing suicide. Visit GivenGain.com to help Green reach his goal before his more than 26-mile run.
Registration for the Boston Marathon was held from September 11th through September 15th for qualifiers to submit an application of their recorded chip time. The 128th Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 15th, Patriots’ Day. Nearly 30,000 runners participated in 2023.
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