As suicide rates continue to rise across the state, many local volunteer groups are stretched thin. Lack of funding can be a challenge as they work to prevent future loss and bring some peace to those left behind. For one Rapid City group, that’s where the flamingos come in.
The Front Porch Coalition is flocking lawns with plastic flamingos as one of its fundraisers ahead of suicide awareness month in September.
The coalition began in Rapid City more than 12 years ago. It’s made up mainly of volunteers who have lost loved ones to suicide. Through a partnership with law enforcement, group members are able to offer advice and resources to other family members who’ve recently lost someone.
Stephanie Schweitzer Dixon is the executive director of the Front Porch Coalition. She explains few people are willing to support suicide related causes until they are personally affected by the issue. She also says state and local funding has declined over the last few years.
“And it’s really sad because we have to be more proactive in preventing it and putting the funding in to prevent it," says Schweitzer Dixon.
She says the flamingo fundraiser can be a way to bring attention to the organization before tragedy strikes.
“It’s an awareness thing too. There’s a big banner there that has statistics of how many suicides unfortunately occur, what our organization does. And it’s been fun for people to just stick a whole bunch of flamingos on somebody’s lawn.”
The flamingos can be removed from a lawn with a donation to the Front Porch Coalition and the address of the flock’s next destination. So far the flock has visited the Pennington County Sherriff’s department, the South Dakota Highway Patrol Office, and the Rapid City and Box Elder Police Departments.
Front Porch Coalition volunteers serve in Pennington, Meade, and Lawrence counties. Schweitzer Dixon says they hope to eventually train enough volunteers to expand to the southern Hills as well.
