Post 130 in Maryland held its second annual Champions of Hope Be the One event that has now raised $64,000 for state nonprofits that provide suicide prevention support for veterans and first responders.
Overlea-Perry Hall American Legion Post 130 in Perry Hall, Md., held its second annual Champions of Hope Be the One event last month that brought members of the Legion Family and community together for a day of education, support and camaraderie.
The event educated about The American Legion’s Be the One veteran suicide prevention mission, provided local mental health and other resources to veterans, fundraised for state nonprofits that support veterans and first responders in crisis, and created a day filled with family-friendly activities.
“One of the things I hear quite frequently is the amazing fact that The American Legion has taken this (suicide prevention) initiative on, and they're not afraid to discuss it,” said Michael Watts, Be the One chairman for the Sons of The American Legion Detachment of Maryland and a member of Post 130. “But you have to get outside your post, you have to educate the public about Be the One. And with (Champions of Hope), we wanted someone to know how to get help, recognize the signs of suicide and to stop it.”
Between the two events, over $64,000 has been raised for state nonprofits to include this year’s beneficiary of First H.E.L.P., which provides suicide awareness and support for first responders.
“If Legion posts want to get involved with this (Be the One), there is no magic wand. They just have to get outside of the post and put themselves out there,” Watts said. “It's making sure that you get out there, that somebody from The American Legion post will get out there and get involved.”
Watts shared best practices that posts and districts can use for hosting a Be the One event:
Identify a point person. Whether it’s a Legion, Auxiliary or Sons of The American Legion member, “they have to get their post involved with what The American Legion is doing with Be the One.”
Recruit volunteers. Post 130’s Champions of Hope event had 80 American Legion Family and community volunteers, an increase of 20 volunteers from last year. Besides helping with the day of the event, volunteers went into the community and met with businesses for sponsorship opportunities, food and refreshment donations, and contacted local media to bring awareness to the event.
Advertise. Watts appeared on local television stations where he invited the community to the Be the One event, and newspaper coverage was provided before and after as news reporters attended Champions of Hope. “It was an event that brought the public in and those who didn’t know anything about The American Legion were amazed, and those that had been back last year came back full force this year,” Watts said.
Educate what Be the One is. “Even among our own members, they don’t quite understand what Be the One is, so I had to do a lot of training, a lot of explanation, and then once I explained to them what Be the One is, their eyes opened up and they become very interested in helping these veterans,” Watts said. “We’ve saved 14 lives in the last five years, not to mention the other lives that we don’t know about, that are not talked about, from this training.”
Visit betheone.org/resources for materials to educate on Be the One, take suicide prevention training, and find event planning resources and merchandise.
Offer resources. Be the One signage was displayed during the event and wallet cards with the ask, listen and reach out information, along with a QR code directing to the betheone.org website, were available for taking. Download the wallet cards at betheone.org/resources under Find Other Resources.
Watts said the post had about 3,500 of the wallet cards printed. They are available in the posts lounge, and he gives a box to Legion posts that invite him to conduct suicide prevention training.
“That card is such a valuable tool that members at our American Legion post carry them in their wallet and when they’re out talking with somebody they hand them out,” Watts said. “It’s the tools you use that get people to understand what Be the One is and suicide prevention. It’s amazing how well people are recognizing The American Legion for this. The community has a different perspective of what we do, and this kind of opened that door when people see that. It's a valuable tool.”
And inside Post 130, 12 people from the VA Maryland Health Care System had tables set up to offer counseling services, mental health resources and assist with VA benefits.
Provide suicide prevention training. Watts conducts suicide prevention training around the state of Maryland for veterans, members of The American Legion and first responders.
“The relationship with the public has just been phenomenal,” said Watts, who has been involved with suicide prevention training for the last 23 years. He works closely with VA suicide counselors who conduct the training with him. “I give real life experiences. The success is getting people out there training in person who can answer questions, see physically what's going on. We are not bashful about addressing the issue. That's what people want to hear. It’s been taboo for a long time and people just want answers; they want to know what they can do to help their loved ones.”
Make it family friendly and interactive. Watts reached out to local bands in the area who volunteered their time to perform, and the Auxiliary contacted businesses for raffle basket donation items that included toolboxes, golf outings, gift certificates, vacations, grocery gift cards and more. The 65 raffle baskets resulted in $9,000 to support fundraising efforts.
A kid’s zone had face painting and bounce houses, there was with a dunk tank and food of hamburgers, hot dogs and chips.
“When the kids got there, they were loving it because they had their own section, and we had people volunteer to make sure everybody was safe. Everybody was just really excited about doing this.”
Recognize sponsors. Post 130 invited every sponsor to the event, had banners hanging that recognized those sponsors, and sent out thank you letters afterward.
Fundraise. Sponsorships ranged from $500 to $2,500 while donations also came from the raffle baskets and food that resulted in $34,000 raised with this year’s Champions of Hope.
“One of the things we hear from people constantly is where is the money going? You're taking money from somebody as a donation for a purpose, you better be using that money for that purpose. People have to trust you,” Watts said. “We tell people we use it for internal training, which we do because we take some of the money to buy Be the One signs and wallet cards (for Post 130 and other Legion posts hosting suicide prevention training). And we’re taking this money that we're raising and we’re funneling it back into the community to organizations that do things for the veterans outside of the VA.”
Watts said they ensure the state nonprofits the money supports helps veterans, first responders and their families.
Know your why. “I've lost some close friends to suicide,” Watts shared. “I look at this (Be the One) program, and I think to myself, if we save one life, just one life, that's one more that’s able to go home at night to their family.”
- Dispatch