Every 13.7 minutes, a person dies of suicide in the U.S. More children and young adults die from suicide every year than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, and chronic lung disease combined. Over 38,000 people in the U.S. commit suicide every year, and suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds.(withhopefoundation.org).

These facts and statistics may seem shocking and surprising to many, but they put into perspective how prevalent suicide has become in today’s society, especially to teenagers and young adults. 1 of 5 high school students will consider suicide, and 1 of 12 college students has an actual suicide plan (withhopefoundation.org). These ratios underscore the need to help reduce these numbers by preventing and discouraging suicide within the community, and especially to teenagers and young adults. This is the goal of the Amber Craig With Hope Foundation.

The With Hope Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Annette Craig, who started the program after the loss of her daughter, Amber Craig, who committed suicide on May 25, 2005. The loss of her daughter left a profound impact on Mrs. Craig and her family and inspired her to found an organization whose goal is to “[prevent suicide] through improving mental health support services and education in our schools and throughout our community” (withhopefoundation.org). The With Hope Foundation hopes to prevent suicides by speaking about suicide prevention and depression awareness at local schools and community centers. In this way, the foundation hopes to discourage the thought of suicide from people in the community and also hopes to educate others so they can in turn help to prevent suicide.

The prevention of suicide is a crucial part of today’s society, and the YLHS Women’s Soccer Program here hopes to help spread the With Hope Foundation’s message by hosting the annual With Hope Soccer Tournament. The tournament is held within a span of two weeks and is hosted by YLHS; however, it also includes schools from many other districts, such as San Juan Hills and Santiago. This helps brings many different communities under one uniting goal: the prevention of suicide. It also allows the With Hope message to be spread to many areas and communities. During these two weeks, each school that participates in the tournament raises money, which in turn goes to the With Hope Foundation, to help pay for the resources the foundation needs in order to travel to so many schools and spread such an important message.

This tournament is a uniting factor for the women’s soccer program here, and for YLHS in general, as coin donations from students and parents in the community go towards this fundraiser. Junior Ashley Spellman (11) says she “loves seeing the difference [the With Hope Foundation] is making in our school and community, as [they] have made such a huge impact in communities all throughout Southern California and have saved many lives.”

This year, YLHS, for the fourth year in a row, raised the most money for the foundation, with over $5,000. However, all the money from all the other schools that participated is also greatly important and appreciated, as it will help to continue to spread the With Hope Foundation’s message.

The With Hope Tournament was a success, and it brought the Yorba Linda community and YLHS together, as everyone came together to help support this wonderful and influential organization.