PHOTO RECAP: National Suicide Prevention Awareness Week
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Sep 13, 2012, 0 Comments
Courtesy Xochitl Mora,
(Laredo, Tx)-This week City of Laredo District VII Council Member Jorge Vera welcomed representatives from PILLAR and other supporting organizations, such as the City of Laredo Health Department, as well as students from United I.S.D., Laredo I.S.D., and Harmony Science Academy for a proclamation for National Suicide Prevention Week and World Suicide Prevention Day that was very personal and extremely emotional for the council member.
Cm. Vera talked about how important the organization PILLAR (People with Ideas of Love, Liberty, Acceptance and Respect) was for the Laredo community; especially, Laredo youth who may be so bullied or pressured to think that suicide is the only answer. “Nothing that happens to you is worth taking your life,” stressed Cm. Vera. He shared with the students how his cousin’s son had committed suicide recently. While they will never know the reason why, Cm. Vera hopes that thanks to organization’s like PILLAR, teens will have an outlet someone to talk to, including himself, when he even gave out his personal cell number (956-744-8372) to be able to talk to teens who are having a hard time. He later shared an even more personal story: when he was in high school, the council member had attempted suicide because of the overwhelming pressures he felt. He hopes that by sharing his story, if even one teenager can be saved, it is enough.
Later, teens took an anti-bullying pledge, in the hopes that they can help stop and prevent not only bullying, but suicide as well.
