Friday, August 19, 2011

Gearing Up for PaddlePower 2011

Tonight is an early night for me. I have to be up at 5am *shudders* to be at my Dad's by 5:30 and to the boat launch by 6:45. Registration for PaddlePower starts at 7am and we need to be all set up and ready for the paddlers to arrive.
 
The Adventure!

PADDLEPOWER is a river adventure. Paddlers in canoes and kayaks journey along 25 miles of the beautiful Connecticut River. We supply plenty of rest stops, meals, drinking water, snacks and much fun. You supply your boat, paddles, personal floatation device, tent if you camp, and dedication to this important cause. Our safety staff and volunteers are ready to assist anyone who needs a hand; if you get fatigued, if you develop aches and pains or blisters, if you need water or a snack, we're ready to help at a moment's notice. See the registration tab for more details.

Though not often discussed, suicide consistently ranks as 8th among the top ten leading causes of death in our country. For young people below age 35, it is the third leading cause of death. In the US, one person dies by suicide every 16 minutes; about 32,000 people die this way each year. According to national statistics, 1500 people attempt suicide every day, including one out of every 13 high school students.

Suicide is the 9th leading cause of death in New Hampshire and Vermont. In the two states, over 200 people die by suicide each year (about 80% of these are men) and 1000 people will attempt suicide in a year.

 
Past Year Recaps - When I remembered!

2 comments:

Allie @ Healthy Balance, Healthy Life said...

#1. This sounds awesome
#2. That suicide thing came out of NOWHERE, girl! hahahaha I figured it had SOMETHING to do with Paddle Power so I googled it and saw that one of the goals of Paddle Power is to draw attention and awareness to the problem of suicide. You should tell readers that because your post reads like "Yay paddle power! and by the way, lots of people kill themselves and it's not good" but there's no written transitional connection between the two.

I hope you had a great time while supporting West Central Behavioral Health, woot!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the headsup! I get so wrapped up in PaddlePower and knowing what if is that I sometimes forget other people dont know what it is. I am working on a recap of the weekend and I will definitely be more careful of connecting the dots and looking at it as if I have no idea what PaddlePower is.