WARREN — Suicide victim Valerie Kopiak loved sunflowers, so it seems appropriate that chocolate suckers shaped like sunflowers will be distributed Saturday during the inaugural Suicide Survivors Awareness Walk.
Kopiak took a lethal dose of prescription pills on Nov. 18, 1998, and died 11 days later at the age of 19.
Her mother, Mary Kopiak, is one of the organizers of the walk to be held at the Courthouse Park gazebo in downtown Warren. The event is being sponsored by Loving Outreach to Survivors, Help Hotline Crisis Center, Survivors of Suicide and the Trumbull and Mahoning County Suicide Prevention Coalitions.
In addition to the sunflower suckers, participants will receive yellow ribbons to wear. The ribbons represent hope, according to the Web site of the national Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program.
Eight large, yellow ribbons will be placed around the gazebo, and tables will be set up to display information from various mental health organizations, as well as pamphlets on suicide prevention.
Kopiak said the walk is the brainchild of Cathy Grizinski of Help Hotline of Mahoning County. She said November will be the 10th anniversary of the annual suicide awareness candlelight vigil held at St. Pius X Church in Warren, and also will be the 10th anniversary of her daughter’s death.
The vigil has grown each year, Kopiak said, but walk organizers wanted to do something extra since Trumbull County’s suicide rate has been on the rise the past five years. In 2007, the county recorded 41 suicides, according to the Coroner’s Office.
She said National Suicide Awareness Day is observed the third Saturday of November, which is when the local suicide vigil is held.
Bob Rattay, another walk organizer and member of L.O.S.S., said he is hoping for a good turnout at Saturday. However, he is concerned that the stigma attached to suicide could keep participants away.
Grizinski said she will have each walker stop at the four corners of the park to represent the tasks of grief for suicide survivors: telling your story; expressing your grief; making meaning from the loss; and developing a new relationship with your loved one.
‘‘Everyone approaches the tasks differently and everyone is on a different path to healing,’’ Grizinski said. ‘‘Some people develop a new relationship by turning their loved one into an angel that acts as the survivor’s protector. Making meaning from the loss is usually the most difficult task.’’
Walkers are encouraged to carry photos or other mementoes of their loved ones as they walk. The event also will include survivor stories.
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