Post 68 Article on Veteran Suicide in Cape Fear Voices

Be sure to check out the September 2022 issue of Cape Fear Voices, page 15 for an article by Commander John Hacker regarding the Post’s program on Veteran Suicide Awareness.

John E. Jacobs American Legion Post 68 Leland, North
Carolina rolling out Veterans Suicide

“We want to create a partnership to expand awareness and assistance
contacts to service organizations and citizens as a whole to better under–
stand and learn how to help reduce veteran suicide in our community”,
says John Hacker Post Commander and team leader.

“We must Identify the problem to be addressed and the needs to be met
by the project. The problem is that most service providers and commu–
nity organizations are so busy doing their work, that they do not have
the time or resources needed to learn and spread the word on what can
be done to reduce Veteran Suicide.”

Our program is designed to bridge the gap between AWARENESS and ASSISTANCE:
The goals of this project is to inform (Awareness) and to show (Assistance) where people can go for help. This can be
done with corporate presentations programs at different sites, through podcasts, and social as well as publication media =
AWARENESS

The impact can help reduce suicide amongst Veterans (female veteran suicide have been on the risen lately) through
knowledge and our follow up along with the VA health centers and other mental health agencies in our community =
AWARENESS

The question arises, “Why is our organization the best to address the challenge?”
Our organization, American legion John E. Jacobs Post 68 Leland, NC, has developed a High End website, (Award Win–
ning 3 years in a row). We also developed and use Facebook, media and recently developed a PowerPoint for presentations
to different services, community organizations, and employers, about how to be aware of and assist others with getting
proper help. And to eliminate the “Suicide stigma”.

This initiative of Suicide Awareness and outreach works well with roll out of the new ’988’ Suicide Prevention hotline. The
Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s new three-digit dialing code went live nationwide on July 16. People experiencing a mental
health crisis will be able to call 988 and connect to counselors with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network. Vet–
erans experiencing distress or a mental health crisis will now be able connect to the Veterans Crisis Line by dialing 988
then pressing 1. This will provide veterans with fast and easy access to veteran-specific mental health support. The current
suicide prevention lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will remain available after the launch of 988.

For more information and how you can help, email John Hacker Post Commander at [email protected]