LeBlond hosts fifth annual 'Out of the Darkness' walk

Sep. 25—Bishop LeBlond High School hosted the fifth annual 'Out of the Darkness' walk in St. Joseph on Sunday.

The walk consisted of participants taking laps around LeBlond's track field in honor of friends and family that have been lost to suicide, as well as to simply show support overall.

Kerry Harvey, a co-chair of the LeBlond walk, stated that she believes the 'Out of the Darkness' walk is important to the St. Joseph community.

"We started the walk five years ago," she said. "We thought we might have a handful of people but we felt it was something important, and we had about 300 people show up and raised over $20,000. So, we decided that obviously it was very needed in our community and people really care about this issue, so we have continued it every year and will continue to have it as long as people support the cause."

Kerry Harvey's daughter, Colby Harvey, who cited her own struggles with depression in the past, stated that she believes the event serves as a unifier for people who have lost loved ones or who have gone through struggles themselves.

"It's important because you see people come together and they're walking for their loved ones," she said. "They're able to give their loved ones that see people that are kind of in their shoes with them with people that they lost and kind of build a community around that hurt and that pain."

While Sunday's walk is over, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention does have an upcoming 'Out of the Darkness' walk scheduled for Oct. 1 in the Greater Kansas City area.

More information on the upcoming walks is available at supporting.afsp.org.