General Communication Inc. in partnership with the Alaska Community Foundation recently announced $100,000 will be awarded to nine organizations to support suicide prevention and promote mental wellness in Alaska. The organizations will receive grants from the GCI Suicide Prevention Fund, a grant program developed to help reduce Alaska’s suicide rate, the highest in the nation.
“With a rate twice the national average, suicide in Alaska has a devastating effect on our employees, their families, and communities across the state,” said Paul Landes, GCI senior vice president of consumer services. “We launched the GCI Suicide Prevention Fund as a way to provide funding for promising new programs and to help successful, established programs reach even more people.”
More than 40 organizations expressed interest in the initial application process, managed by The Alaska Community Foundation. After a competitive review process, nine programs were awarded grants, ranging from $5,000 to $15,000. Selected programs include a wide range of prevention strategies across the state, from teaching traditional crafts to at-risk youth to expanding mental health initiatives from high schools to middle schools.
Grant awards represent a mix of small and large organizations from across the Alaska and include a broad range of target audiences and tactics.
During National Suicide Prevention month in September, GCI provided free suicide prevention training to employees, promoted suicide prevention messaging on its social media platforms and has featured suicide prevention public services announcements more than 2,700 times on cable television channels across Alaska.
In 2015, GCI supported the Anchorage Rotary Suicide Prevention Project. The award-winning public awareness campaign moved the company to further its work in supporting suicide prevention in Alaska, resulting in this year’s grant program.
