Send Silence Packing, a nationally recognized public education exhibit of 1,100 backpacks representing the number of students who die by suicide every year, will be on display on the University of Delaware's Central Green on Monday, May 2.

May 2: Send Silence Packing

Empty backpacks represent students' lives lost to suicide in display at UD

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11:11 a.m., April 25, 2016--Send Silence Packing – a nationally recognized public education exhibit of 1,100 backpacks, representing the number of students who die by suicide every year – will be on display on the University of Delaware’s Central Green from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday, May 2. 

Send Silence Packing is a traveling outdoor exhibit presented by Active Minds Inc., the leading national nonprofit organization working to engage students in changing the conversation about mental health. 

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UD, which has an Active Minds chapter, is the last stop on the spring tour of 11 colleges and universities, which began at Auburn University on March 31.

At each Send Silence Packing location, the 1,100 backpacks are displayed in a high-traffic area such as the campus quad where the exhibit becomes a visual and powerful testament to the number of lives lost to suicide each year. Attached to many of the backpacks are photographs and personal stories of students who died by suicide. 

Passersby are invited to walk among the backpacks to see the photographs and read the stories.

The Send Silence Packing exhibit also includes signs and resources to encourage help seeking, to connect students to mental health resources, and to inspire action for suicide prevention. 

Active Minds staff, student representatives and counselors also are on hand to provide information and resources.

Active Minds was established in 2003 by Alison Malmon, then a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, after tragically losing her only brother, 22-year-old Brian Malmon, to suicide.

“Active Minds dedicates all of our time to raising awareness about mental health,” says Malmon, now the executive director of Active Minds Inc. 

Students, she notes, often say stigma is the major reason why they do not seek the help they need. 

“Send Silence Packing, one of our most visual and powerful programs, encourages everyone to seek help for themselves or a friend as soon as it is needed,” she says.

Send Silence Packing was first unveiled in 2008 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with a keynote speech by Patrick Kennedy. Since then, more than 320,000 people in 100 cities throughout the country have experienced Send Silence Packing. 

Program evaluation data reveals the impact of the exhibit – most visitors leave Send Silence Packing wanting to learn more about mental health; the majority tell three or more people about the exhibit; and many reach out to a friend in need or seek help for themselves as a result of viewing it.

Active Minds continues to collect backpacks in honor of loved ones. Those who have been impacted by suicide can send their story to Active Minds at this website.

For anyone thinking about suicide or worried about a friend in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text BRAVE to the Crisis Text Line (741-741). 

For resources on how to "Be a Friend" for someone with mental illness, visit this site.

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