Mortimer speaks suicide awareness

NCW - The Christ Center in Chelan and Cashmere have been working alongside business owners in Wenatchee and a group of 12 in Chelan, Manson, and Pateros to bring Bob Mortimer into schools to speak on suicide awareness from April 8-15.

Chelan Campus Pastor Nick Longmire stated that suicide rates in Chelan County are high, and not only statewide, but also nationally, and it is a concern to many community members. Last year, a group of business owners reached out to the Cashmere Senior Pastor wanting to do something in order to help educate students in North Central Washington on this sensitive topic.

The group decided that they would subsidize Mortimer as a guest speaker to the schools. Mortimer will be sharing his story at 13 different school assemblies on the time he was coming home from a party during his high school days and suffered a fatal accident, losing his two legs and one arm. “He struggled with suicide and depression, and eventually he came through that and found hope,” said Longmire.

Mortimer will also be present at the three youth rallies that will take place in different community locations. “We are trying to get the students from the schools to jump in and be a part of that,” said Longmire. The rallies are open to all youth and are welcome to attend. Food will be provided and they will be able to hear more from Mortimer and his message of hope. Those who attend the rally are going to receive a resource card with contact information, along with the suicide hotline number.

Longmire explained that in Chelan a 30-day Kindness Challenge is being developed. The idea is to have a social media bundle for the schools to post describing a  challenge for the day. The challenges might start off easy and get harder as the days go by. “A lot of those cases of suicide develop out of cases of being bullied, so this is a way to also approach it from that point,” clarified Longmire.

The big picture of the week is to spread awareness, recognize signs and for people to get accurate help. Longmire and the rest of the group don’t want this to be a one-time event. “We would like to develop some support groups for it and possibly do more with that,” said Longmire.

The Gathering
On March 27, a pre-rally was held at the Ruby Theatre in Chelan to give student leaders the training needed to help spread the word on suicide. Approximately 60 students participated in the event and received a mini training on Suicide Prevention. The event also served as a way for them to get informed on the rallies.
 
Bob Mortimer 2019 Rally/Assembly Schedule
April 8: Pateros, 9 a.m. Assembly; Brewster High School 11 a.m. Assembly; and Entiat, 1:30 p.m. Assembly
April 9: Wenatchee High School 9:50-10:20 a.m., and 11:15-11:45 a.m. Assembly; Westside High School 1:30 p.m. Assembly
April 10: Chelan Middle School, 9:30 a.m. Assembly; Chelan High School, 11:00 -11:50 a.m. Assembly; Manson 1:20 - 2:10 p.m. Assembly;
 and Chelan Youth Rally - 6 p.m. Chelan Community Gym
April 11: Cascade High School, 9 a.m. Assembly, Leadership after; Icicle River Middle School, 11:55 a.m. Assembly, Leadership after
April 12: Cashmere High School 8:15 a.m. Assembly; Cashmere Middle School, 9:30 a.m. Assembly; Wenatchee Youth Rally Sage Hills Church 6 p.m.
April 14: Christ Center 10 a.m. Assembly; CORE Team 12:30 p.m. Assembly; Upper Valley Youth Rally Sanctuary 6 p.m.
April15: Sterling Middle School, 9 a.m., 10:15 a.m. and lunch at 11:30 a.m. (available to students)