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A â&#x20AC;&#x153;tailâ&#x20AC;? to be told The Whitman Branch has enlisted a bulldog to help youngsters to JDLQ FRQĂ&#x20AC; GHQFH as readers.
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0`]YS\ gSb P]\RSR Pennsport and Whitman residents are striving to curb the scourge of suicide through neighborhood outreach. ÂŽĂ&#x160;0g 8]aS^V ;gS`a Review Editor
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arol McGuire cherishes having had 48 years to bond with brother Kenny, but, like any loving sister, she wishes she could have enjoyed at least that many more. On May 31, her sibling took his own life, becoming, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), the fifth resident in the Pennsport and Whitman neighborhoods to die by suicide this year.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is no other pain that is comparable,â&#x20AC;? McGuire said of having parted with the youngest of her familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s five children. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like living a nightmare each day... â&#x20AC;&#x153;We cry for people and pray for families, but when it hits your door, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no greater grief,â&#x20AC;? McGuire noted of never being able to share another day with Kenny, the flasher of â&#x20AC;&#x153;a beautiful ear-to-ear smile.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;There have to be voices or else, sadly, this will just continue.â&#x20AC;? With that in mind, McGuire, of the 200 block of Mifflin Street,
and other community residents met earlier this summer in an outreach meeting organized by AFSP and Minding Your Mind. The June 29 gathering drew scores to discuss the recent spate of deaths. At a time when some may gloss over individualsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; woes by saying the nation has far greater health concerns to tackle, these saddened relatives and peers have chosen to focus on each lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s radiance and the constant struggle each separation engenders. More than 40,000 Americans die
by suicide annually, according to health statistics, with white males like Kenny accounting for 70 percent of the tally. A study released in April by the National Center for Health Statistics noted that suicide has reached its highest levels in nearly 30 years, with a staggering 24 percent rise from 1999 to 2014, pushing the death-by-suicide ratio to 13 per 100,000 citizens. Regardless of the statistics, McGuire knows every suicide leaves those left behind with feelASS SUICIDE PREVENTION ^OUS