BELLE FOURCHE—In its fifth year, the Out of the Darkness Walk took place at Herrmann Park on the morning of September 20. The aim of the two mile walk is to raise awareness for suicide prevention and mental health.
It is a time for community members to come together in a welcoming atmosphere filled with hope and healing. “The walk itself, the main thing is mental health awareness and just getting conversations started and support for people who have had a loss. That way, the walk brings everybody together,” explained Sonia Ribordy, Director of the Belle Fourche Out of the Darkness Walk.
This year’s walk had an estimate of over 300 participants gather to walk for suicide prevention and mental health awareness. The walk keeps growing each year. According to Ribordy the first Out of the Darkness Walk in Belle Fourche was one of the largest first year walks with around 256 participants. She attributes the growth to a few factors. “I think people are realizing more what it’s about. It’s about having the resources available and just getting conversations going and people checking in,” she explains. “I mean, it should just be a normal everyday thing—we take care of our health, so our mental health is just as important as our physical health.”
The day started bright and early with volunteers arriving long before the 8 a.m. registration start time. At 8:45 a.m. the official activities for the day began. The day kicked off with a bead ceremony.
The walk was approximately two miles long. The route started at Herrmann Park and looped around the baseball fields then down to National and on to the fire hall and ended back at the park. Those who couldn’t climb the hills or handle the varying terrain had the opportunity to still take part in the walk by staying right in Herrmann Park and walking the path around the outside, approximately seven laps is equivalent to two miles.
In the park you could find the Hope Wall. The word HOPE is spelled out in four and a half foot tall letters. Walkers were encouraged to share a photo or note or anything they want to bring and add to it. “The Hope Wall is a wall where they can share—if they have a picture of a loved one that they want to share, people have shared notes just to others—you know, just keep going on and be here,” said Ribordy.
Putting on the walk takes a lot of volunteer help. Ribordy shared, “The day of, I think we had 40 plus volunteers. We had Lion’s Club get involved, we had Purple Pride kids helping out and we had a lot of our people that have been helping since we started the first year. And then we had a lot of new people that stepped up because they just wanted to get involved.”
Ribordy was pleased with the turn out and shared that the day went smoothly. “It was wonderful! It felt like this year we had a lot more people stay afterwards—visiting, talking—a lot more interest advocating or getting involved with advocating. It seemed like there were more conversations about how to get involved.”
The next event is on November 22, 2025 and it is the International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day. The day is about bringing people together that have lost someone to suicide and finding connection, healing, and understanding. “November is going to be a virtual event between North Dakota and South Dakota. Just go on and get registered and then the Zoom link will be sent to you. That event is for all adults survivors of suicide loss,” explained Ribordy.
For more information about the Out of the Darkness Walk, International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day or any further information, reach out to AFSP.org.
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