WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — A Fayette County mental health coalition has opened its first-ever silent auction, offering donated items valued from $5 to $400 to raise money for care packages aimed at helping students cope with crisis.
The Community of Hope Fayette County Suicide Prevention Coalition, the mental health task force that helps carry out the county’s Community Health Improvement Plan, said in a Facebook post that bidding is open now through 32auctions.com, with a free account required to place bids. More items will be added to the online catalog the morning of Sept. 13, the coalition said.
Proceeds from the auction will fund the coalition’s Youth Comfort Care Bag initiative, which assembles bags of mindfulness, regulation and sensory materials — including journals, fidget tools and a coloring book — for students in grades 3 through 8 who are facing crisis or difficulty, according to the coalition. Every $25 raised covers the cost of one bag, which are distributed to schools and other youth-serving organizations across the county, the coalition said.
The coalition is coordinated in part by Fayette County Public Health and has expanded its work in recent months, including introducing a team of trained volunteers this summer to support families in the hours after a suicide.
The auction coincides with the county’s fall push around suicide-awareness programming, which includes the “A Light in the Dark” Glow Walk scheduled for Sept. 12 at Tony’s Welding & Fabrication Stadium at the Miami Trace Athletic Field.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Fayette County Public Health.
