As August 2019 rolls in I am once again amazed at how fast the summer has passed by me. I turned my head, blinked my eyes and whoosh – the summer is almost gone. I think that is a sign that I am getting older, right? Sigh.

This past month we have been supporting AAUW Scholarships for Young Women here on the blog. I have been so happy to be a part of this organization locally here in Brevard and love their purpose of providing scholarships to local women in Transylvania County. There is so much that they do and I am just happy to support the organization in their efforts to help promote education and learning.

Scholarships are given yearly and the annual Book Sale helps to fund the various scholarships that are given to students. This month, thanks to your comments on It’s Just Life I am happy to report that Chris and I will be making a donation of $140 to the scholarship fund. Thank you to each one of you who has read and taken the time to leave a comment.

A few startling facts:

• 44,000 + suicides yearly
• 1,124,125 attempts of suicide yearly
• Globally there is 1 suicide about every 40 seconds
• In the U.S., there is a suicide every 13.7 minutes. 
• Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death for Americans.
• Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for Americans age 15-24. 
• Males die by suicide four times as often as females, but there are three female attempts for every male attempt

Find Your Anchor is a grassroots movement and a 501 (c) 3 non profit located out of Chicago, Illinois. Their mission is simply: suicide prevention, awareness and education. They organization believes that everyone needs an anchor in this world.

The premise behind Find Your Anchor is that each person needs an anchor. “Establish an anchor — a dependable, stable, secure base that you can hold on to, one that keeps you firmly planted, no matter what winds or storms may come.” 

Find Your Anchor website

One of the most important ways that this organization shares their mission with the world is through distributing small blue boxes that are shared organically in different places in the world. These boxes which cost about $25 to fill are free for the asking to anyone who requests them. Inside the boxes are a variety of helpful items including posters, addresses and phone numbers of places that are available for help, cards and hope. Ali Borowsky, a graphic designer based in southern California and Chicago, says the box’s contents reflect what she needed to hear when she was struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts many years ago.

There are many ways to be involved in this outreach and starting today for every comment made on It’s Just Life on ANY post Chris and I will be making a 50 cent donation to Find Your Anchor. (capped at $500) I am very excited to share this organization with my readers this month because I believe that every single person who reads this blog post has experienced suicide in some way –either a loved one or friend. Mental illness is a reality and unfortunately suicide is often the end result. We all need to do better in recognizing those who suffer and be an anchor ourselves in whatever way we can.

I urge you to connect with the Find Your Anchor movement by clicking on the links below. Follow this group on social media, check out the resources on their website, order your own Find Your Anchor box to share, donate to their non profit and become a messenger for their cause. Please, don’t wait. Make a difference today and support this group and come back often this month to leave a comment on my blog posts. It all counts and it will make a difference in the lives of those who are just looking for an anchor.

Find Your Anchor website

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