Food Bank of Sweetwater County Executive Director Kathy Siler, front left, accepted the proclamation for Hunger Action Month. City Council members that made the proclamation were Mayor Pete Rust, front right, and, in back from left, Sherry Bushman, Robert Berg, Ron Williams and Gary Killpack.
This month, the City of Green River and the community as a whole are recognizing several important issues that need extra awareness and support.
September is Hunger Action Month and Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and the Green River City Council recognized both of them with proclamations on Tuesday night.
In a meeting that potentially set records for being the shortest ever, the City Council's agenda for September 3 only had the two proclamations, citizen requests, and the consent agenda. The council also went into an executive session for personnel issues that was called for at the beginning of the meeting by Councilmember Ron Williams.
Mayor Pete Rust took time to read both proclamations during the meeting, and Food Bank of Sweetwater County Executive Director Kathy Siler was on hand to accept the proclamation and share statistics about the food bank.
"Addressing the food insecurity needs of children, youth, men, women, seniors, active military, and veterans today is fundamental for the future of the City of Green River," the proclamation for Hunger Action Month states. "Hunger and poverty are issues of vital concern in Sweetwater County where 10.65% of people struggle with hunger and one in every six children do not know where there next meal will come from."
The food bank gave out 129,471 pounds of food in Green River alone during Fiscal Year 2024, Siler shared. There was also a total of 2,746 pantry visits in Green River. For Sweetwater County as a whole, there were 403,185 pounds of food shared and 9,711 pantry visits. These numbers are up from one year ago, which Siler said shows the increasing need in our community. Just in one month the food bank served 836 adults, 236 seniors, and 587 children across the county.
"It is our responsibility as citizens of Green River to learn about hunger and to do our part in reducing that hunger," the proclamation says. "We must help end hunger, one meal at a time, either through donations, social media shares or volunteer shifts."
September is also Suicide Prevention Month, and Mayor Pete Rust noted the "horrible statistics" shared in the proclamation recognizing the month's importance.
"Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States," the proclamation explains. "In 2022, there were 149 suicides recorded among Wyoming residents."
At that time, Wyoming was also rated first in the nation for suicide deaths and the suicide rate was almost twice the national average. According to current data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Wyoming is currently ranked third in the nation.
"Suicide Prevention Awareness Month can promote awareness and assist in developing and implementing strategies to improve and increase access to quality mental health, substance abuse, and suicide prevention services and programs," the proclamation says.
Several events for suicide prevention and awareness will take place throughout the county this month, including QPR training (using the "Question, Persuade, Refer" method) for teens at 6 p.m. on September 10 at Western Wyoming Community College, QPR training for adults at 6 p.m. on September 12 at the Broadway Theater in Rock Springs, a Resource Fair at 4:30 p.m. on September 20 at Western, and Prosper Training at 6:30 p.m. on September 26 at the Broadway Theater.
The Wyoming Department of Health also recently announced continued improvements to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Two call centers within Wyoming are part of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline system, which is a national network of crisis centers that provide support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress, the WDH explained in a press release. The free and confidential 988 line can be reached every day, all day by phone, text or online chat.
"Fortunately, we've been able to expand what our Wyoming-based centers offers this year," Alicia Johnson, Crisis/988 Program manager with WDH said. "People who call or text 988 from a 307 area code number are sent first to help from one of our Wyoming-based centers. Previously, texts were routed to national resources."
An online chat function is also available at 988lifeline.org. Chat services were also enhanced recently to direct most Wyoming residents who use the option to Wyoming-based help.
"We believe these are great improvements for the 988 system in the state," Johnson said.
September 8 (9/8) is recognized as 988 day as part of National Suicide Prevention Month.
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