Numbers show Be the One in action

A top priority for The American Legion is Be the One – a mission to reduce the rate of veteran suicide by destigmatizing the need to ask for help, and empowering Legion Family members and others to know when a veteran is in crisis and how to act to save a life. The American Legion has a variety of resources to help members Be the One at betheone.org/resources.

These resources are making an impact as seen by the following recent numbers:

9,100 – American Legion members and others who have undergone suicide prevention training through the Legion’s partnership with Columbia University Lighthouse Project and/or the QPR (question, persuade, refer) training. The first training session with Columbia University was held in February.

5,000 – Estimated number of people who took the suicide prevention training during The American Legion’s 105th National Convention on Aug. 28 in New Orleans. And 300 American Legion Auxiliary members attended a session earlier in the week.

4,000 – Be the One toolkits distributed to American Legion departments for dissemination to posts that provide tools such as press release examples on how to support the Legion’s mission.

23 – Suicide prevention stories shared on Legiontown since January. Share your story of saving a life or being the life saved under the Be the One category.

12 – Episodes published of the Be the One podcast with the 13th one launching Sept. 1. Listen now to the released episodes.

5 – Sessions of the Columbia suicide prevention training scheduled for September. Sign up now for this virtual training. There are currently five training sessions scheduled for September, National Suicide Prevention Month.  

5 – How-to videos created and shared with American Legion Family members since early May. Check out these five videos on how to organize a successful Be the One event.