On October 25th, the Long Island Crisis Center held its first annual
walk for suicide awareness called Let’s Walk Let’s Talk… Stepping Out. The
Carol Kestenbaum Foundation is proud to have been a sponsor. Below is an
excerpt from an email sent to us by the organizers describing how their efforts
have helped to save two lives.
To The Carol Kestenbaum
Foundation-
I wanted to tell you
an amazing story which just occurred in our community education program.
Tawni, an intern with the program, had a student approach her after
a suicide prevention workshop. He handed her a folded note that read
"To Tawni" on the outside. She asked him if he wanted her to
read it now and he said “Yes.” It was a long letter, detailing how and
why he had been planning to commit suicide, and that he had already tried
before. Tawni was the first person he was telling. Thankfully, the
boy agreed to speak with his school psychologist. Tawni followed up with
the teacher and found out that his mom has since gotten him into therapy.
Tawni shared that although this was certainly an unnerving experience, it also
reinforces why we do what we do.
In addition, on Oct. 25, ironically the day of our Suicide Awareness walk in
Long Beach, a counselor got a call from a woman that was planning to kill
herself that day by car exhaust and pills. The caller had written suicide
notes to her sons so they wouldn’t feel guilty. The caller shared that
she suffers from mental illness and that she has a psychiatrist and is on
medication. Her insurance company is after her for Insurance Fraud and
she has not told her husband about it. The client said that her
psychiatrist tells her that her thoughts are not real and that she has paranoid
delusions. Due to the client’s mental illness and the specificity of her
plan, the counselor traced the call. The client hung up before the police
arrived but the police called us and said that they caught her in the act of
trying to kill herself and were taking her to Stonybrook Hospital.
So you can feel good that your money has been immediately put to good use in
saving lives!
Warm regards,
LICC
