1100 backpacks and a lot to learn.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students.

According to the World Health Organization, 25 percent of all people will develop at least one mental disorder sometime in their life.

Also according to the WHO, suicide claims nearly 3,000 lives each day.

1,100 college students commit suicide every year.

In April 2010, Active Minds, Inc. received a $50,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project to complete a 10 city college tour of Send Silence Packing. The demonstration exhibits 1,100 backpacks representing lives lost on college campuses due to suicide. Active Minds, Inc. continually collects backpacks and personal stories of loved ones lost to raise awareness on the issue. Send Silence Packing is not just about lowering suicide statistics on college campuses, though, it’s about saving lives.

Senior psychology major Abby Rucker has learned a lot from her involvement as President of the JMU chapter of Active Minds.

“It helped me decide what I want to do later in life,” Rucker said. “I want to be more active in the community and want to help reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. I want to open up a forum for people to talk about it.”

Rucker, along with her organization, strives to put a face to these suicide statistics. According to the club’s Facebook group, Active Minds attempts to “raise students’ awareness of mental health issues and symptoms of mental illness, serve as a liaison between students and mental health community, target the entire college community with large-scale educational campaigns and events such as discussions, movie screenings, and benefit runs.”

Active minds is present at at lease five other universities within the state of Virginia including University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Through her participation, Rucker had to “learn to delegate.”

“I learned a lot about communication and staying on top of people to make sure they get their job done. I learned the value of having great membership.”

Active Minds continues to provide information about mental illness and how to detect signs. For for information on dealing with mental illness, please contact the  JMU Counseling & Student Development Center.

“Get involved. Find what you’re passionate about – it will make your overall experience better. It’s helped me develop as a leader, but also helped me find my best friends.”