‘Out of Darkness’ a success
Published 11:00 am Thursday, June 26, 2014
Orcas Islander Dixie Morrison led a team called “Hope and Healing,” whose members provided crew duties in the Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk on June 14 and 15 in Seattle.
Sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the walk is held twice a year in a different city. It started at dusk , ended at dawn and covered 17 miles.
“It was a great turnout – over 800 walkers participated,” Morrison said. “Collectively we raised $1.2 million dollars for research, education programs and advocacy initiatives about mental illnesses and suicide.”
Morrison and the team – her mom Judy Smith and her friend Kim Kern – provided water, Gatorade and snacks to the walkers. Smith lives in Kent, Wash., and Kern resides on Orcas Island.
At 5 a.m. on June 15, everyone gathered for the closing ceremony. Among the hundreds of luminaria, Morrison found the one she made for her brother and father, both of whom she had lost to suicide.
“I discovered that there are several community walks in our state, and we plan on walking in one or more of them … I would like to see about having one on Orcas,” Morrison said.
