Key Club brings Project Semicolon to Havre

The Havre High School Key Club is bringing Project Semicolon to the area for the first time.

Project Semicolon comes during National Suicide Awareness Week, which begins Monday. National Suicide Awareness Day is Thursday, Sept. 10, and the high school students will be writing semicolons on their wrists and bodies to promote awareness.

Hailee Kilgore, a senior at the high school and president of the Key Club, said “essentially, you draw a semicolon on your wrist and it’s to symbolize where a life could have ended but didn’t, like how a semicolon is where a sentence could have ended, but it didn’t.”

Kilgore said the entire thing is to fight depression. She said they did a similar event in the spring, but this is the first official recognition on the national day.

She said they are also going to try go to some of the elementary schools Friday to speak to the students there about bullying.

The event is coupled with the “Out of the Darkness Walk,” which is being put on by the Mental Health Local Advisory Council. The walk will be at Montana State University-Northern between the Armory Gymnasium and Vande Bogart Library Tuesday. Registration will be at 7 p.m. and the opening presentation is at 7:30 p.m. Michael Woods, a survivor, and local families will be giving the presentation, a press release reads.

People are urged to wear purple or teal in honor of suicide awareness. The event is free.

The project’s website lists its mission as: “Project Semicolon is a faith-based movement dedicated to presenting hope and love for those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction and self-injury. Project Semicolon exists to encourage, love and inspire. Stay strong; love endlessly; change lives.”

The project is run by a nonprofit. It is two years old and was begun by Amy Bleuel, who wanted to commemorate her father, who committed suicide. The website maintains that they aim to be a hope for inspiration, and are not a resource for help. Those seeking assistance can call 1-800-SUICIDE or 1-800-784-2433.