Cycle Around the Globe: Join Team Verizon to raise suicide awareness.
When you join Team Verizon to cycle the globe, you’re raising awareness for suicide prevention.
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2020 has been a challenging and stressful year, making the need for suicide awareness and prevention greater than ever. Consider these facts:
80,000 deaths annually, which means one every 40 seconds globally.
For each suicide, about 135 people suffer grief or are otherwise affected — that’s 10.8 million people per year.
For every suicide, 25 people make an attempt and many more have serious thoughts of suicide.
Verizon Resilience Toolkit
If you, a co-worker or family member are struggling, the Verizon Resilience Toolkit offers an abundance of tools and resources to assist employees and their families with mental health and suicide prevention. International and U.S. Resilience Toolkits are available on About You.
And these stats don’t really factor in the impact of the pandemic. The CDC reports that 11% of Americans seriously considered suicide in June. That’s double the percentage from 2018. Rates were highest among those 18 to 24 years old and unpaid caregivers for adults.
Support suicide prevention.
What can you do? Join in and be part of our challenge to the V Team to cycle 50,000 miles. It’s part of Cycle Around the Globe, a worldwide event supporting World Suicide Prevention Day on Sep 10. It’s easy to participate. Just hit the streets, bike trails or your stationary bike between Sep 1-30.
How does cycling help?
Riding allows us to honor someone who has been impacted by suicide. Given the number of deaths annually from suicide, chances are we all know someone. And cycling is good for your physical and mental health. Research has made links between the two, with poor physical health proven to lead to an increased risk of developing mental health problems.
Get on your bike and go.
All you have to do is pedal using a stationary bike or outdoor bike. Cycle as much or as little as you want. Just do what you can, but be sure to log your contribution below. You can log your miles daily, weekly or submit a grand total at the end.
If you don’t have a way to measure distance, here’s a good rule of thumb — 5 minutes on a stationary bike equals one mile.
Be sure to share photos from your ride or take a selfie with your pledge card. Upload your photos using the form below.
Spread awareness worldwide by posting this image to your social media account with the hashtag #CycleTheGlobe.
Volunteer opportunities.
If you’re looking for additional ways to make a difference in the community, consider volunteering for one of these Verizon Employee Resource Group (ERG) events that directly support two communities impacted by suicide.
NAV (Native Americans of Verizon): Volunteer at a local crisis center
VALOR (Veterans and Advocates Leading the Organization Responsibly): Become a Peer Counselor for the military
To access these events, once on the volunteerism landing page select Volunteer Communities, then click Join Now under NAV or VALOR to join the community, then click on the community’s logo, and then select Events.
Resources
International Association for Suicide Prevention
Physical and mental health
CDC: 11% of US adults seriously considered suicide in June
