Be the Light walk Saturday in St. Maries

ST. MARIES — The sixth annual Be the Light Suicide Awareness and Prevention Walk will be from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday starting at the St. Maries Elks Lodge No. 1418, 628 Main Ave.

The walk is organized by the Suicide Prevention Action Network of Benewah County, which comprises residents, organizations and survivors who work to foster awareness, offer support and provide hope to those affected by suicide and mental health struggles.

Benewah County SPAN board member and Be the Light walk organizer Amanda Beckner told The Press she attended the walk in Coeur d'Alene for two years after losing her brother to suicide in 2018.

"He lived in Coeur d'Alene and the Coeur d'Alene walk was the nearest one for us to attend," she said. "In 2019, our group started and I knew I wanted our walk to be as positive of an experience as I had at the Coeur d'Alene one."

Beckner said she easily could have talked herself out of going to that first walk, which was only six months after her brother's death.

"I wasn't sure I could do it," she said. "I went and it was so uplifting. People were hugging and remembering, and it wasn't as gloomy as I imagined. Our group wasn't established at that time — that came a year later in the fall of 2019 — but when we started brainstorming, I knew that I wanted our group to be just like the one in Coeur d'Alene: A place for remembrance, support and hope."  

As the SPAN Break the Silence walk in Coeur d'Alene will not take place this year, Beckner and her colleagues want to ensure those who may be interested are aware they can join the cause in St. Maries this weekend. It is free to participate in the Be the Light walk.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness will also host a walk Oct. 4 in Coeur d'Alene.

Be the Light will take guests on a 3K through downtown St. Maries with activities, breakfast and resource tables at the Elks. Heritage Health, Safe Passage, Panhandle Health District, Spokane Veterans Affairs, the Benewah County Veterans Outreach Center and Community Action Partnership will be on site.

Beckner said these events help shake the stigma that surrounds suicide and mental health challenges while offering support for those close to the cause.

"You lose someone to suicide and it feels isolating," she said. "It’s been very healing to be involved in something like this and to know you’re making a difference, to hope that another family doesn't have to go through what you have. It has been a really great group."

Proceeds will help SPAN of Benewah County in its mission to offer a monthly grief support group and otherwise share messages of hope for anyone affected by suicide.

"That's the thing with suicide — it doesn't discriminate. It can happen to any family," Beckner said. "We're just trying to look out for our neighbors and ask, 'Are you OK?' Because it’s OK to not be OK. I think a lot of times people don't realize it is OK, you don’t have to be perfect.

"Everybody has bad days," she said. "It's the good days we want to win."