Bonnie McClelland shows off a quilt filled with hundreds of yellow ribbons, representing someone who has committed suicide.
CLEARWATER – The Board of County Commissioners proclaimed Sept. 9-15 as Yellow Ribbon Suicide Awareness and Prevention Week at its regular meeting on Sept. 4.
Board Chairman Ronnie Duncan described suicide as the “most disruptive and most tragic” event.
Duncan presented Bonnie McClelland, director of Suncoast Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program, with a proclamation, recognizing the nationwide week created to help increase awareness and prevention.
McClelland, of Seminole, began a local chapter of the national organization after losing her son, Timothy, to suicide in January, 2002.
McClelland said that Florida has the second highest “body count” from suicide rate in the nation. California has the highest. She said 170 die from suicide in Pinellas County each year.
McClelland showed some of the quilts that the local chapter of Yellow Ribbon uses to create the awareness of the problem. The quilts show pictures of people who have died by suicide.
“There’s a lot of 15, 16 and 17 year olds on these quilts,” she said. “Way too many young people do it.”
She also told commissioners that the number of senior citizens over the age of 65 that die from suicide also was high.
County residents are urged to wear a yellow ribbon, Sept. 9-15, in support of those working to help educate and prevent suicide.
Revision note: Changed the number who die from suicide annually in Pinellas County from 270 to 170.
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