The HOPE Squad of Carbon, Emery, and Grand Counties is hosting an International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day event on Saturday, November 19 at 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Carbon Country Club. Suicide Prevention Specialist, Amanda McIntosh took time to speak with Castle Country Radio to discuss all the details.

“It’s an opportunity for survivors in the community to rally and come together and really just check in with one another, its always good to have that community base or that familial resource. Because suicide death is different than any other grieving process and so it’s nice to meet with people who have that same lived experience, share a meal with one another. Check-in with where they’re at in their grieving or in their healing process and just be together,” said McIntosh. International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day is an event in which survivors of suicide loss come together to find connection, understanding, and hope through their shared experiences.

The HOPE Squad of Carbon, Emery, and Grand Counties actually partners with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for this event each year. There will be a free luncheon and presentation given at the event. “So we show a video that the AFSP or the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has produced and there’s kind of a discussion around that and its intimate and it’s one-on-one. It’s seeing things from different perspectives and being able to interpret it or take it with us when we go. Then we have a craft that we’re going to do, not necessarily a craft but an activity that we do, a takeaway, so that they can be reminded of the experience they had at the luncheon,” stated McIntosh. There will be entertainment from the Ambassadors of HOPE Choir that will perform a few songs to close out the event.

The HOPE Squad of Carbon, Emery, and Grand Counties asks guests to pre-register for the event. “We do ask that our community registers just so that we can be prepared for food and for the activities supplies and they can do that by going to the HOPE Squad page and looking at our events. On that they’ll find the link to register for the event,” said McIntosh. If anyone has any questions about the event, they can call Amanda McIntosh at (435) 637-3671.

Next up for the HOPE Squad of Carbon, Emery, and Grand Counties is the HOPE Festival on December 9 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Further details will be shared as the event approaches.