The Out of the Darkness Walk will take place at Laurel Acres Park on Oct. 22.
Lenape High School junior Kyra Berry has made it her goal in life to shed light on mental-health stereotypes and bring those issues out of the darkness.
Now the 16-year-old Mt. Laurel resident is close to the next step in her mission as she partners with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to hold an Out of the Darkness Walk at Laurel Acres park on Oct. 22.
For nearly 30 years, the non-profit AFSP has been dedicated to research, advocacy and education related to issues of suicide prevention. The foundation works with those affected by mental illness as well as those who have suffered the loss of a loved one from suicide.
Supporting the foundation are its signature Out of the Darkness Walk fundraisers, where more than 200,000 people gather for more than 350 walks a year across the country to raise millions of dollars for the foundation and its suicide prevention programs.
However, Berry said the foundation still isn’t funded and publicized to the level she believes it should be, and so she’s working to raise awareness locally in the hopes that even more people will donate, contribute and participate.
Berry said she struggled with clinical depression for about two years, which led to her discovering AFSP.
“It was definitely a good fit,” Berry said. “They believe in a lot of the same things I do, like the strong connection between mental illness and suicide and the need to come together as a community to share these stories so there isn’t as much as a stereotype and stigma.”
Having gone through her own struggles, Berry said she has even more of a drive to fight the negative connotations that can come when society talks about mental illness.
Berry even started a club at school known as the Stress Less Club to educate her peers about the dangers of stress and techniques to help overcome it.
Members of the club meet once a month, and Berry organizes it so professionals such as nutritionists and psychologists can speak to the club about techniques to deal with stress.
“The people I’ve talked to say that it’s a great club and they do help and they learn a lot, and that’s really all I want to help with,” Berry said.
With the Stress Less Club and Out of the Darkness Walk, Berry said she’s also using her advocacy to work toward her Gold Award, which is the highest honor achievable in Girl Scouts.
“I definitely believe we need to stop pretending like mental illness is different than any other physical illness,” Berry said. “We all need to understand that it’s just like if I had diabetes or asthma, I would be prescribed medication and treated for that — any mental illness is the same as a physical one.”
Those looking to donate or register for the Mt. Laurel Out of the Darkness walk can visit www.afsp.org/BurlingtonCo.
Online registration closes at noon the Friday before the walk, but anyone who wishes to participate can register in person the day of the walk from the check-in time of 9:30 a.m. until the walk begins at 10:30 a.m.
Donations will continue to be accepted throughout the rest of 2016.
