save a life prevent a suicide

Thank you for your interest in organizing a local conference site for International Survivors of Suicide Day on November 19, 2011. The new 2011 step-by-step guide is now available at www.afsp.org/survivorconference.

While the day itself takes place in November, we’re writing to you now because local promotion is most effective starting in June with the distribution of fliers to bereavement support groups.(Find out why in step #4 of the guide)

If you organized a site last year and your location worked well, save yourself time and effort by reserving the space again now and registering your site with AFSP. Also, be sure to review the new guide to organizing a conference site. It has a lot of new information this year, based on your feedback.

If this is new to you, rest assured that it does NOT have to be a huge, overwhelming job. International Survivors of Suicide Day is simply an opportunity for survivors of suicide loss to come together in your community for support, healing, and information. AFSP provides the main program content by sending you a free broadcast on DVD.

Each site is organized locally and independently - you can keep it very simple and just arrange a place for survivors to watch the broadcast from 1-2:30 p.m. EST (GMT-5). Or, you can add breakout support groups, local speakers, healing activities and/or food. We show you how.


GET STARTED:

Review the new 2011 step-by-step guide: www.afsp.org/survivorconference. Everything you need is there, including a planning checklist, publicity toolkit, sample fliers, and tips on local promotion. Once you have a location secured, fill out the online Site Registration Form.

« INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS «

20 countries on 6 continents organized local conference sites in 2010– please help us to reach even more survivors around the globe in 2011 by reaching out to your contacts outside of the U.S.



Survivors from countries as varied as India, Ghana, Costa Rica, Japan, and Australia have let us know how healing this day is for them. If you know anyone who lives or works outside of the U.S. please ask if they know of organizations or individuals who may be interested in putting together a site, or promoting the webcast that survivors can watch from home.

The 2011 DVD features French subtitles and English closed captioning. (Many Non-native English speakers have told us that it helps them to follow along more easily.)



If you’d like to add subtitles in your local language, or you’d like a copy of a Mandarin, Japanese, or Spanish language DVD for your conference site, please contact us at survivingsuicideloss@afsp.org.



If you have any questions at all, please contact us; we are always here to give you as much (or as little) guidance as you'd like.

Please feel free to pass along this message to anyone else you think might be interested.

Thanks, and take good care,

Joanne and Rebecca

Joanne Harpel, Senior Director for Public Affairs and Postvention -jharpel@afsp.org or 212-363-3500 ext. 32
Rebecca Thorp, Survivor Initiatives Manager - rthorp@afsp.org or 212-363-3500 x33.


American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

120 Wall Street, 22nd Floor

New York, NY 10005

Fax (212) 363-6237

www.afsp.org



If you don't want to receive future emails about organizing a conference site, just let us know by return email.







Sincerely,



Rebecca Thorp
Survivor Initiatives Manager
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
120 Wall Street, 22nd Floor
New York, NY 10005
Phone: 212-363-3500, ext. 33
Fax: 212-363-6237
www.afsp.org