The gusts did not stop the 15th annual “Out of the Darkness Walk” Thursday. Organized in collaboration with Sacramento State’s Student Health, Wellness and Counseling Services and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), the event began with a resource fair and speakers sharing their personal stories about mental health struggles.

According to AFSP’s website, suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 34 in the United States. Men are 3.8 times more likely to die by suicide than women.

Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) Vice President of University Affairs Amaka Okam and Mental Health Education Specialist Monica Martin introduced the event. ASI Director of Education, Trinidad Padilla Jr., spoke about his struggles with mental health and led the walk of 889 registered participants.

The speakers were chosen by a panel that included Martin and AFSP Area Director Lauren Pulido. All students could submit drafts, and the chosen speakers each had different experiences or methods of sharing their story.

“You saw speeches and you saw poetry,” Martin said. “So, we try to bring a variety of inspirational words to the walk-through.”

Pulido said he has seen ‘exponential’ growth over the past fifteen years. As a Sac State alumnus, he said he has seen that awareness for both AFSP and mental health resources on campus have grown.

“We see more people attend almost every year, and so that awareness is growing, and the visibility of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the work being done is also growing,” Pulido said.

Dozens of universities across the country have their own “Out of the Darkness Walk,” which also serves as a fundraiser for AFSP. Pulido said Sac State’s walk exceeded the $15,000 goal by raising $16,075 by individuals, teams of students and some sponsors.

Participants hold signs with words of support during the ceremony Thursday, April 16, 2026. Students were encouraged to voice their support with signs during the walk. (Susana Grijalva)

Kayla Ngo, a first-year with an expressed interest in business and marketing major, said that she loved the diversity of attendants, and that it all felt supportive.

“It was honestly very inspiring, I wasn’t expecting there to be this many people,” Ngo said. “There’s athletes, people in Greek life, it’s cool to see.”

Along with the walk, different colors were made available to wear, each representing the loss of a certain person or a personal struggle with mental health. Jimena Barajas, a second-year child development major, said that she and the other members of the Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Inc. all wore teal beads to honor the memory of one of their sorority sisters and founder of their Sac State chapter.

“We’re all wearing teal because one of our founding sisters, Diana Bermundez she was a student here at Sac State, unfortunately passed away due to suicide, so to keep her memory alive, this chapter and this sorority, we all come out to support,” Barajas said.

Before the ceremony ended, Pulido asked the participants to hold up their colored beads to connect with other people. Pulido said that the thing he hopes participants take away from the event is connection.

“I think connection is one of the biggest ways that we can help each other, we can show up for each other,” Pulido said. “Sometimes that means just showing up.” Martin agreed, adding that in her two years of organizing the walk, her favorite part is seeing the support strangers have for each other.

“It might be through a hug or a smile or just listening to one another share their story, being able to give it and then witness it being received, it’s just It’s so fulfilling,” Martin said.