The Mental Health Association and the Clermont County Suicide Prevention Coalition held the sixth annual candlelight vigil for suicide victims and their surviving loved ones at the Union Township Veteran’s Park Sept. 11.

As part of national suicide prevention week, which was proclaimed by the county Board of Commissioners last week as being Sept. 10-16, the annual vigil was a way to acknowledge and honor all of those who have lost their lives to suicide in 2006-07.

“We are gathered here tonight to recognize those who have been touched by suicide in some way,” said Clermont Suicide Crisis Hotline Coordinator Rachel Bayer. “It is a way to inform the community about suicide awareness and its importance by providing visible support and tangible resources to the community.”

More than 30,000 deaths by suicide occur every year in the United States; worldwide, there are one million suicides a year. Suicide is the eleventh leading cause of all deaths and the third leading cause of death among young people between the ages of 15 and 24.