LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtesy Xochitl Mora,

City of Laredo Mayor Raul G. Salinas welcomed Lupita Zepeda of AT&T, Adolfo Popo Gonzalez, Gabriel Lopez, Veteran’s Liaison, current soldiers and members of the Family Support group, all to  help proclaim (attached) the week Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Week in Laredo.  Many local businesses and organizations, including the City of Laredo, Webb County, the school districts, and even Webb County, hold positions for employees who are deployed into active duty for the National Guard or Reserves.  Some, like the City of Laredo, offer differential pay to the employee, and others offer 100% pay, so that families do not suffer when the employee is deployed.  AT&T offers calling cards to soldiers and their families to make it easier to stay in touch.

Afterwards, Mayor Salinas was joined by a coalition of agencies in our community dedicated to preventing suicide in Laredo, proclaiming the month National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in Laredo, lamenting the sad statistics of suicide rates in our community, of 4 in the last year; 41 in the last several years and nine of those specifically in school-age children.  Constable Rudy Rodriguez, who is charged with transporting at-risk students in our community to facilities out of town works closely with the staff at MHMof Laredo, including Laura Palermo, Jackie Lopez, Kathleen Seitel, Raquel Herrera and Dr. David Castillon, to help reach out to young children in our community who may feel that suicide is the only answer.  Also leading the charge of this very important issue was LISD Superintendent Dr. Marcus Nelson, joined by Katherine Uribe Flores of UISD, Connie Vela of LISD, Dr. Hector F. Gonzalez of the City of Laredo, and LISD Police Chief Lonnie Cook, who together are fighting to stop this preventable tragedy in Laredo.