Nov. 12, 2023

I had a reminder just ahead of this Veterans Day that service takes so many forms.

I saw it at work around a handful of tables in part of Landscape Garden Centers. As the beauty of the holiday season was beginning to take shape inside, a few dozen of us had gathered to talk about one of the saddest, most seemingly insurmountable challenges facing our community.

Those of us who helped organize the half-day symposium were motivated by finding a way to honor our friend, Interstate Office Products CEO Gary Gaspar, who died by suicide in 2022.

“We want to help our community grow and be vibrant,” steering committee member Michael Bender said in introducing our program for the day. “We hope it will be as unique as our friend Gary was. … He brought a lot of energy to whatever he did, and we’re hoping to see a lot of energy and a lot of innovation.”

As a small group, we easily determined we didn’t know enough about suicide in our community — what data exists, what’s already being done for prevention and care, and where there might be gaps or overlap. So we convened a room filled with experts, those whose organizations live this issue consistently. We listened to them, and we challenged them to collaborate and innovate.

“Frankly, we just don’t know what’s going to come about. We don’t know what’s going to get accomplished,” Bender said to the group. “We hope we can help facilitate a dialogue, new ideas, new concepts. We want to help initiate it and hopefully fund some of these concepts.”

Additional community engagement around suicide prevention and care can’t come soon enough. As Mayor Paul TenHaken shared to start the program — he attended the entire event if that shows you what a priority this is — there have been 33 deaths by suicide through the end of October in Sioux Falls. Through the same time last year, it was 19, and for all of 2022 it was 22.

By comparison, Sioux Falls has experienced one homicide this year.

I learned that suicide is the leading cause of death for people 29 and younger in Sioux Falls, and that those most likely to be affected by suicide are young people and those older than 70.

We divided participants into four groups and gave them the following prompt: Imagine that, a few years from now, the cover of Psychology Today magazine has the following headline: “How one big idea changed a community’s experience with suicide.”

“That’s your goal — making this statement true,” steering committee member Dick Molseed told the group. “You’re going to be planners. You’re going to be journalists. And then you’re going to tell, as a designer, your idea.”

About an hour later, ideas already had begun to crystalize. Our goal with this program is to offer seed money — up to $100,000 in one-time dollars available so far — to a solution-minded, innovation-driven approach to suicide prevention and/or care.

It must involve a partnership of at least two entities and at least one must have attended last week’s symposium. Our group included representatives from state government, schools and communities up and down the I-29 corridor, and our hope is find an innovation that could be a fit throughout South Dakota or even beyond.

The deadline to apply is Jan. 31, 2024, with an intent to apply due by Dec. 15. If your organization is interested in learning more, about applying or financially supporting the effort, you can email me at [email protected], and I’ll get you connected.

Hopefully, we’ll have updates to share by later in the first quarter next year.

But the need to be increasingly aware of suicide’s presence and threat in our community is right now.

I’m concerned that despite all the upheaval of recent years, one thing most people haven’t had to cope with is a prolonged economic downturn. That might be changing. As it does, it’s creating more pressure on everyone from consumers struggling to budget for basic needs to business leaders coping with down sales and uncertain futures.

Combine that with the already challenging time of year we’re entering, and it’s critical both to take care of ourselves and to reach out to others.

Don’t forget the number 988 — it’s what you now can call to connect directly with professional, compassionate support for anyone who might be struggling emotionally or experiencing suicidal thoughts, or for those with concerns about a family member or friend with a mental health or substance use issue.

It costs nothing to check in on someone. There’s nothing innovative about inviting someone you think might need it to connect in person. And there’s certainly nothing better you can do than ask for help if you find yourself struggling.

There’s also so much room here for big ideas, new ways of thinking and resources we maybe didn’t even know we needed.

I’m excited to see what comes forward as we continue to honor Gary’s memory and help create a community worthy of that headline.