Caltrain Team Helps Shine A Light On Suicide

A Caltrain team which participated in a 20-mile walk last weekend in San Francisco raised more than $7,700 for suicide prevention -- as well as awareness about suicide and the fact that help is available for people in crisis.

The team members -- all employed by Amtrak, Caltrain’s contractor -- were among 1,135 participants in The Overnight, a dusk-to-dawn walk that raised some $1.7 million for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, according to the organization’s Public Relations Manager Wylie Tene.

The Caltrain/Amtrak team consisting of conductor Bruce Shelton, Police Det. Jake Mumford and Road Foreman of Engines Rob Orantes was pleased to have more than doubled their goal of raising $3,000, helped by Caltrain passengers who chipped in more than $2,400 in a single morning.

“I am so glad I participated because I learned so much from it,” said Shelton, who met people from all over the United States who had survived suicide, lost a relative or friend to suicide or have struggled with challenging disorders.

“It was like everyone knew each other because everyone had this tragedy in life in common and it bonded them together,” said Det. Mumford. “It was a great experience.”

Caltrain devotes a great deal of effort to educating the public about rail safety. Suicide is the primary cause of rail-related deaths on Caltrain, yet it is one that rail agency can do little to prevent on its own.

The Overnight walk, which began and ended at Crissy Field, offered Caltrain an opportunity to do something positive to help deter suicide, so the agency sought employees representing the jobs most directly affected by rail suicide to participate. As is true with any awareness campaign, the impact is hard to measure.

Orantes, a veteran locomotive engineer, said if he knows that one person has been kept “from stepping out in front of a train” it will make his participation in the walk worthwhile.

Shelton believes Caltrain has already helped because “the first step is making people aware that there is a problem and getting them to talk about it,” including being able to offer options to people who need treatment or other kinds of help.

Det. Mumford agreed. “I had an opportunity to talk to people who had attempted to take their own life and those who had received the proper help, and they are a living testimony to the fact that suicide can be prevented,” he said.

Rob Scarpino, who works at Caltrain’s administrative offices, raised more than $1,200 participating on a team to honor a friend’s brother who died by suicide.

“This event gets the word out that there is a lot of support out there for people who need help,” Scarpino said. “This is not a subject that a lot of people like to talk about but it is a reality in today’s society.”

People can still contribute on behalf of the Caltrain/Amtrak walkers until Sept. 12. For information, visit www.theovernight.org.

07/28/06 - jrm