On Saturday, Sept. 2, our COPES team joined thousands of fans at ONEOK Field. As the stadium began to fill up, our team was setting up to bring awareness to those attending the Drillers Game. On the concourse, fans were searching for hotdogs, popcorn and cotton candy. What they didn’t realize, is they would also receive information about Suicide Prevention Month.
Our COPES team spent the night engaging with fans and explaining to them the importance of suicide prevention. That evening, our COPES team gave away 61 gun locks and 21 medication deactivation pouches. Amanda Bradley, the Program Director for COPES said, “we had people come up to us and thank us for the support they had felt when they were in crisis, it was neat to see them outside of crisis and have them tell us that they appreciated the help they were given when in crisis.”
Every year, organizations across the U.S. and around world come together to raise awareness of suicide prevention during the month of September. By offering immediate counseling services to everyone that may need it, local centers such as our 24 hour a day CrisisCare Center (CCC), provides invaluable support at critical times and helps to connect individuals to local services. If you or anyone you know is in crisis, contact our COPES line at 918.921.3200 or visit our website for more information, www.fcsok.org.
