On November 13th, our very own Special Events Manager, Carrie Aronson, was honored as one of Long Island's Power Women at the Schnep's Media Long Island Power Women  Awards! Power Women of Long Island honors those fearless females who make Long Island the thriving and vibrant place it is to work, live and do business. Carrie first became involved with AFSP LI 15 years ago after losing her teenage daughter, Brittany Marie, to suicide. She began by fundraising for the walks, progressed to becoming a board member, and now is one of 3 staff members for the chapter, in her role as our Special Events Manager. In her 15 years being involved with the chapter, Carrie has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for suicide prevention. In her current staff role, she supports teams and participants to help them maximize their fundraising efforts. She plays a key role in the execution of all of our fundraising events, especially our Out of the Darkness Walks. Carrie keeps Brittany at the forefront of everything she does, and honors Brittany's memory by inspiring others to find hope in making a difference and raising awareness for the cause. Please join us in congratulating Carrie for this honor! We are so grateful to have you on our team as part of our AFSP LI family!

The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office has participated in fundriasing for "No-Shave November" since 2018 and typically raises money for cancer research. The initiative was orginally the idea of Deputy Sheriff Joseph Gallo and it worked like this: make a donation to the charity and in return ask Sheriff Toulon to adjust the grooming standards for all sworn personnel for the month of November. Their fundraising efforts were successful and this has become an annual event for the department. Unfortunately, in February of this year, the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office lost Deputy Sheriff Joseph Gallo to suicide. They wanted to continue the fundraiser in his honor, but decided this year to donate the raised funds to the Long Island Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide this year in memory of Deputy Sheriff Gallo. To date, they have raised over $9,000 for suicide prevention! Although November has ended, their team is still able to collect donations through the end of the year, so if you'd like to contribute in memory of Deputy Sheriff Gallo, please click the button below. 

Planning a fundraiser for your team and want it highlighted in our newsletter, social media, or posted on our upcoming events calendar? Let us know! Reach out to Katie, our Programs Manager, with more info about your event at kdeitz@afsp.org

For this month's volunteer spotlight, we'd like to acknowledge the amazing individuals who volunteered as break-out group facilitators at our International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day event this past month. The break-out sessions are a major part of the event and would not be possible without our facilitators. A big "THANK YOU" goes out to the following individuals: Henry Zhang, Ively Suriel, Cindy Bressendorf, Paul Engel, Makeda De Souza, Marisa DeMartino, Sarah Acton, Al Guerra, Samantha Megias-festa, Mindy Davidson, Carrie Aronson, and Chris Tafone. 

Click on each event image to learn more/register for event!