Emily Snyder describes herself as a “suicide survivor,” and she is on a mission to prevent suicides and to raise awareness of this national tragedy. “I am a suicide survivor, I tried about ten years ago and it’s really just my mission to let people know that they are not alone, there are people out here who care, and that life can get better. My life did a total 180 since then.”
According to the CDC, suicide is the leading cause of death in this country:
“Suicide rates increased 30% between 2000–2018, and declined in 2019 and 2020. Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States, with 45,979 deaths in 2020. This is about one death every 11 minutes. The number of people who think about or attempt suicide is even higher. In 2020, an estimated 12.2 million American adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.2 million planned a suicide attempt, and 1.2 million attempted suicide.”
Emily launched this noble effort last year by creating cards and posters that display encouraging messages.
“I started out just passing out little cards, I would hide them in gas stations, or like on the shelves in stores. Then I actually started making posters and some of those are still stuck on the side of the buildings around here. Then last March, or April, I went out on the corner for the first time at Main and Dewey here in Sapulpa. I held my signs for a couple of hours, it blew up, everybody loved it. I came back a week or two later with another sign, and it blew up again.”
Ms. Synder hopes to be able to bring her message to local schools to talk to the teenagers and would eventually like to form a non-profit to promote her cause.
“For right now, doing this corner stuff …I have a lot of response from this, it just makes people smile. I can see people smile and wave from their cars. I have people actually stop and talk to me and take pictures with me. I have had people stop and tell me, Hey, I really, really needed that today.’
Ms. Snyder, volunteers from Aunt Tara’s Farm, and locals who saw her Facebook post and came to join in the event, were dressed in clever costumes and holding signs of encouragement on all four corners of the intersection at Dewey Avenue and Main Street. Many motorists honked and waved at the 25 volunteers to show their support.
For more information visit their Facebook page: “Stay Another Day: Suicide Prevention and Awareness.”
