The Idaho Suicide Prevention- Hotline will be having a tattoo fundraiser to increase awareness of suicide and raise money for the hotline.
It will be heldWednesdaySeptember 7 from noon until 9 pm at Resurrected Tattoo & Piercing, located at 610 N. Orchard in Boise.
"Idahoans are bootstrappers... we're a Western state," says John Reusser, Director of the hotline and why some Idahoans might find it difficult to ask for help around suicidal tendencies. "But if you live in a small town in Idaho, the only mental health clinic might be right across the street from the coffee shop where all of your friends are having lunch," he says -- which is why some people might find it easier to use the phone to ask for help.
"When someone wants to take some action badly enough to harm themselves, part of them also wants to live," he says.
Reusser says people sympathetic to those who may be suicidal bear the symbol of the semicolon ( ; ) because in writing, a semicolon represents a place where one could stop, but chooses to continue. It has become a symbol of perseverance and anti-stigma.
At the fundraiser, the tattoos will cost $40. The size and location of the tattoo will be determined by the customer.
A food truck will be present at the event so participants can celebrate their new tattoos with food, but the participants will have to pay for food from the truck.
Another event for the organization is thevolunteer training coming up in September.
