Ethan’s Purpose, a local non-profit foundation dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of good mental health and suicide prevention, is hosting it’s first annual ET’s Stampede for Suicide Awareness on Saturday, October 26.
This event will help fund our non-profit foundation that is currently providing counseling for over 240 students in three Boone County Schools – Conner High School, Thornwilde Elementary, and North Pointe Elementary.
According to the CDC, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States and was responsible for more than 47,000 deaths in 2017. It is the second leading cause of death for people 10-34 years of age, the fourth leading cause among people 35-54 years of age, and the eighth leading cause among people 55-64 years of age.
When our son, Ethan Thomas, died by suicide in September 2018, we started Ethan’s Purpose to help other families that may be struggling with the same challenges that Ethan had.
Ethan was adopted, had anxiety, depression and ADHD. I was unaware at the time of how all of these factors played a part in Ethan’s mental health and also unaware of how I could help him learn strategies to help him cope with these challenges. I have made it my mission to arm other families with the tools and resources to help their children so they do not need to walk this journey that we are on.
There are currently 328 people registered to run/walk on October 26th and we anticipate having another 30-40 register by Saturday. Registration remains open up to, and including race day at www.ethanspurpose.org. You can learn more about Ethan and our foundation at our website and on our FB page. The race will be held at North Pointe Elementary in Hebron, where I am a special education teacher.
Ethan also attended North Pointe as well as Conner Middle and HIgh School, where we are providing counseling services. UC Health Neurotrauma Department and Ob/Gyn department is our Title Sponsor. Ethan lived for 15 days after his accident thanks to the amazing staff at UC Neurotrauma Center. We also have over 20 other local businesses as sponsors for this event.
As a community, we NEED to start talking about good mental health and suicide NOW. It IS an epidemic, but we can help by raising awareness. Please contact me for questions/interviews or if you plan to be at our event on Saturday, October 26th. Registration check-in begins at 7:30, race activities begin at 8:30 and the race begins at 9:00. Please don’t miss out on this chance to help us help the youth of our community.
Debbie Zegarra
Founder
Ethan’s Purpose
