Celebrating 40 years of Compassion

New Year, New Look, New Services

Happy New Year! 2014 marks an important milestone for Samaritans - our 40^th year of delivering life-saving services to the communities of Greater Boston and MetroWest. Founded by Monica Dickens as the first Samaritans location in the United States, we're proud that from the first time the phone was answered by a befriender in response to a call for help that our services have grown tremendously. We now provide 24/7 crisis services through answering calls to 6 different incoming phone lines, online chats and text messages; our community and education workshops have grown to more than 300 a year and more people each year who are touched by suicide are personally supported in their healing by Samaritans. Our logo this year has been updated to reflect our 40 years of compassion and our e-newsletter has a new format as well. In the coming months, you'll be seeing other changes to our website and literature as well as we begin our 40^th year of service.

Throughout the year, we will celebrate our history by sharing stories from our volunteers, supporters and friends. If you have a story about your involvement with Samaritans, whether it was from last week or twenty-five years ago, we would love to hear it - email us!

Annual Memorial Service

On January 5^th, we gathered for Samaritans event with the longest history and greatest emotional impact. For more than 20 years, the Annual Memorial Service attracts those who have lost a loved one to suicide - whether the loss is recent or many years ago. Loved ones are remembered in a non-denominational service that keeps their memories alive through song, selected readings, a poem, or photograph or by having family members or friends being present. This moving event is a lovely way to start off a new year, because it reconnects us with many members of the Samaritans community and it reminds us powerfully of the reasons why suicide prevention work is so important. To learn more about our Grief Support Services, click here.

Congratulations Beata, CTL Specialist of the Month!

Congrats to our Text/Chat Services Coordinator, Beata, who was named Crisis Text Line (CTL) Specialist of the Month! She has already helped teens in over 350 conversations in the few months she has been with Samaritans. Our Chief Program Officer, Ron, said of Beata "We are so proud of the work Beata has done with text and that she was selected as Specialist of the Month. She takes genuine care with each response and cares deeply about the lives of the young people using the service." Do you think you would make a good Text/Chat volunteer? Click here to learn how to become a Samaritans' Crisis Services volunteer.

Subscribe to the Boston Globe?

The Boston Globe announced that they are supporting non-profits through a promotion, only to subscribers, to get them to designate a non-profit as a beneficiary for what they are calling GRANT vouchers for advertising in The Boston Globe. If you are a subscriber and receive a silver envelope in the mail (or an e-mail if you are an online subscriber) from The Boston Globe as part of your subscription, could you take a minute to designate Samaritans as the beneficiary, and ask others to do the same? Seven-day newspaper subscribers' will receive vouchers valued at $100; all other subscribers (including website-only readers) have been sent vouchers valued at $50. On top of the donations, the organizations that receive the largest number of donations from subscribers will be able to advertise free of charge in The Boston Globe, which would help Samaritans spread the word about our life-saving services. To subscribe to The Boston Globe or read more about GRANT vouchers, click here.

2014 Marathon Team Updates

We could not be more excited about the 23 dedicated people running in the 2014 Boston Marathon on April 21^st for suicide prevention! Each month through April, we will be introducing you to a few of the members of our outstanding team.

Leslie Unger has served as a helpline volunteer, and was a member of last year's marathon team. Due to the unfortunate events of last year's marathon, Leslie was unable to finish the 2013 marathon but has been given another number by the John Hancock Boston Marathon Non-Profit and choose to run the distance for suicide prevention again. To learn more about Leslie, visit her crowdrise page.
Nancy Rappaport is also joining Samaritans Marathon team for the second time, and for her tenth Boston marathon. A dedicated member of our council, Nancy is running in memory of her mother, who died by suicide when Nancy was a child. To learn more about Nancy, visit her crowdrise page.
Norman Mininger joined Samaritans Marathon team as a qualified runner, and is stationed in Colorado working in Military Justice. This will be his 5^th consecutive Boston Marathon, and first time as a Samaritans team member. To learn more about Norman, visit his crowdrise page. If you or someone you know has qualified for the Boston Marathon and would like to make your run more meaningful, contact us about joining Samaritans' Marathon Team as Norman did.
Marcus and Michelle Goldhaber are our brother/sister Marathon Team members, running in memory of Marcus' best friend Wade, who died by suicide last year. The Goldhaber's first came into contact with Samaritans through a meeting with Grief Support Services, and later created a team in Wade's memory for the 15^th Annual Samaritans 5K. To learn more about Marcus and Michelle, visit their crowdrise page.
Lauren Gablinske is running in memory of her brother, Derek, who died by suicide in 2011. Since then, she has become passionate about raising awareness and reducing the stigma that surrounds suicide. Though she has run several 5Ks and half marathons, this will be her first marathon. To learn more about Lauren, visit her crowdrise page.

To read about the whole team, head over to the marathon section of our website, and to check on the team's fundraising progress towards their collective goal of $150,000 towards our life-saving services, visit the team's crowdrise page. We still have two alternate runners for our team waiting to receive bib numbers, if you have any leads for additional numbers, we would love to hear from you. If you are participating in another physical challenge and would like to raise funds and awareness for suicide prevention at the same time, contact us about joining Samaritans' Running Community.

Out and About: Community Outreach and Education

In December, Education and Outreach Manager Kelley Cunningham, along with Commonwealth Corps member Lynda Wallack, met with over 900 people for seminars at:

If you would like our Community Outreach and Education team to speak at your school or event, contact Kelley Cunningham .

Upcoming Events

Mark May 14^th in your calendar for our Breakfast For Hope at the Sheraton Hotel in Back Bay, Boston! If you are interested in volunteering, attending or hosting a table, contact us!
The Greater Boston Coalition for Suicide Prevention is hosting a half day conference on January 23^rd from 8:30am - 12:30pm on Understanding and Treating Two Self-Harm Behaviors: Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Eating Disorders at The Curry Student Center, located at Northeastern University. Click here for more information or to register.
Registration for Comfort Zone Camp, the free one day camp for youth survivors of suicide are due by January 31^st, and volunteer applications are due by February 3^rd. The camp will be held on March 8^th.
Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention 15^th Annual State House Day is February 10^th from 9am - 12pm. Join us for this event on awareness and education, and to acknowledge outstanding work in suicide prevention throughout the state.
The 16^th Annual Samaritans "Run/Walk for Someone Else's Life" 5K will be held on September 27^th at Artesani Park - updates to come!
Make Noise to Save a Life, a wonderful event hosted each year, usually in January, by members of the Samaritans community to support its live-saving services, will occur sometime later in 2014 - so stay tuned for updates on the new date!