Our Mission
The Jesse Klump Suicide Awareness and
Prevention Program’s objective is to end the threat of suicide in
Worcester County and beyond through a program of outreach and education.
The grief following a suicide is often more intense,
more complex, and more difficult to come to terms with than grief
following a loss to other causes.
In addition to several community organized events throughout the year; each month, the program hosts a support group meeting for those who have lost loved ones to suicide and who are having difficulty coming to terms with their grief.
The Jesse Klump Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program is a program of the Jesse Klump Memorial Fund, Inc. The Fund was created in March, 2009 following the tragic loss to suicide of a promising Snow Hill High School senior.
“I wanted to do something Jesse would approve of,” his mother, Kim Klump, said in a 2011 newspaper interview. The community responded with an outpouring of love and compassion and within a month it became obvious that the original mission, providing scholarship aid to young people who, like Jesse, had demonstrated a passion for service and a willingness to put others ahead of themselves, had struck a common chord.
In late summer of 2010, The Board of Directors began conversations about establishing a youth suicide awareness and prevention program for Worcester County, a county with historically high rates of suicide. Meetings with the Board of Education and Health Department revealed that there was no proactive program in place to teach the warning signs of a youth at risk of losing his or her life to suicide, no regularly-scheduled support group meetings for families and friends who have lost loved ones to suicide, and no resources to accomplish either.
The Fund launched the Jesse Klump Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program in September, 2011. In the first year of operation the Fund’s Program Manager delivered the talk to over 500 residents of the lower Eastern Shore, at schools, churches, fraternal organizations, any place where people gather who may someday be in a position to save a life.
In 2012 The Fund began sponsoring Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) for educators, healthcare professionals and interested private citizens. ASIST is an intense two-day workshop that is recognized worldwide for its success at reducing suicide rates.
Organization Home Page: http://www.jessespaddle.org/index.html