Tyler Project Walk Saturday

The Tyler Project has changed the date of an upcoming East Hampton walk for awareness and prevention of suicide to Saturday. Initially it was to be held last Thursday.

Sign-up for the fund-raising event will begin at noon at Herrick Park; the walk will kick off at 1 p.m. The route will take participants to Main Beach, where there will be drinking water and a bus to take them back to the starting point. The registration fee is a suggested donation of $20 and includes a T-shirt. Literature pertaining to local mental health resources will be available.

According to Marjorie Winslow, the treasurer of the Tyler Project, the proceeds will support several initiatives the project has undertaken. So far, the group has distributed copies of the book “The Grieving Student: A Teacher’s Guide” to administrators and school psychologists in all local districts.

The Tyler Project has launched Project Hero at the Montauk School and the East Hampton Middle School, set up the East End Peer Network for teenagers and older youth, and brought safeTALK crisis communication training to the area through the Family Service League of East Hampton. The organization is also exploring bringing the Express Yourself character-education program into schools.

All of this has occurred in the last year and a half since the organization was established in memory of Tyler Valcich, a Montauk resident who died at the age of 20.

“We have been working with the schools to find whatever programs they feel would be helpful, to see that it doesn’t happen again,” Ms. Winslow said. “We feel we are moving forward and making a positive impact, and we hope to continue to do so.”