National Suicide Prevention Week is Sept. 9 – 15.­ In honor of this, Fresno State’s Suicide Prevention Program is sharing information with students and organizing a workshop.

The program is the product of a grant from the California Mental Health Services Act.­ This grant provides almost $300,000 for a two-year program focused on suicide prevention.

Melissa Watkins, the coordinator for the newly established Suicide Prevention Program, said that it has multiple events planned for the coming years.

“Over the next two years we have six programs that are all focused on building up that awareness, education, and making sure we are reducing the stigma that is associated with suicide,” Watkins said.

She continued by expressing the necessity of understanding factors like depression, which often precede suicide.

The Suicide Prevention Program set up a booth in the Free Speech Area on Monday.­ Volunteers offered yellow ribbons for suicide awareness as well as an information wheel which provided little-known facts about suicide.­ One states that suicides are more prevalent than homicides in the city of Fresno.

Thursday afternoon, the Suicide Prevention Program is holding a workshop which will focus on the story of Kari Jorgensen, a Fresno State student athlete who committed suicide in 1996.­ Her mother, Carolyn Brown, will be telling Kari’s story while reflecting on the warning signs of suicide and her daughter’s battle with depression.

The workshop will be held at 12:30 p.m. in the University Student Union, rooms 312-314.