Participants release balloons Saturday as a part of the Jog for Jordan event put on by Carson High senior Alyssa Woodward as a way to honor her late brother and raise awareness for suicide prevention. The participants had a moment of silence and released the balloons to honor those who have passed.
One Carson High student designed her senior project to raise awareness about suicide prevention.
Senior Alyssa Woodward created the Jog for Jordan event to honor her brother who committed suicide in 2015. So she created the event to not only remember him, but to also raise awareness about the prevalence of suicide. She held the event Saturday, where nearly 200 people registered for the run.
“One (person will) die every minute from suicide and it is number 10 in leading causes of death in Nevada,” Woodward said at the event Saturday. “That just seems insane to me.”
The race started with a speech by Woodward, explaining the reasoning for her project and offering a bulletin board for people to pin photos of loved ones lost.
The crowd also had a moment of silence and a balloon release as a way to honor those who passed.
The event was both a 5K and 10K race that participants could walk or run that started and ended at The Fox in Bob McFadden’s Plaza.
Proceeds from the event also went toward a scholarship that Woodward created for two Carson High seniors. Two student-athletes, one male and one female, will be chosen to receive a $1,000 scholarship for college. Any extra funds will be donated to other suicide prevention organizations.