"Every 15 minutes someone dies by suicide."
That sad statistic comes from the web-site of The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. As far as I'm concerned, once every twenty years is more than enough. In my life, I have lost two people that I have cared about to suicide. First, my childhood best friend Eric "Igor" Brown in 1991, and most recently my nephew Steve Pisarchick in 2008.
Thus, this past weekend at the 12th Annual Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (S.P.A.C.E.), I organized a raffle at the Sunday Comix table, the proceeds of which went to the AFSP.
Before the show, I took a basket, donated by fellow Sunday Comix member Canada Keck, around the room, filling it with comics generously donated by many of the exhibitors to be the prize. Throughout the day, as well, several other artists came up to the table and added to the prize pool. By the time we finally held the drawing, the basket could no longer hold all the comics that had been donated.
Selling tickets for $2, or 12 for $10, we managed to raise $168. To that I added $32 from my own pocket to make a $200 donation to AFSP in Steve's memory.
I would like to thank everyone at the show who donated comics, all those who bought tickets, and, most of all, my fellow members of Sunday Comix, especially Canada and Max Ink, for all their help and support. I could not have pulled this off without it.
You can find more information about the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and make a donation on-line, at afsp.org.
