Junior prepares to organize To Write Love on Her Arms fundraiser

In today’s world, depression and suicide rates are booming, and some girls are not finding ways to receive the help and guidance they might need to fight through their struggles.

Starting in 2006 from just the story of one girl that commited suicide because of depression, To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) was created as a non-profit organization that encourages, informs and inspires girls to become stronger and live on.

The knowledge of what this group did got out to people around the country, and teenage girls started speaking out about their personal struggles and opening up to ask for the help they needed. Stories of families that had lost a loved one because of suicide got out, and TWLOHA took action to bring people together and fight as a team to save people from depression.

“Over the years that TWLOHA has been going on, we have responded to 170,000 messages from people in 100 different countries,” the founders of TWLOHA wrote. “ We have learned these are not just American issues but the issues of humanity. These are problems of pain that affect millions of people every day.”

TWLOHA’s vision is to make people understand that their lives matter and stories are important. They want to say that girls should never feel worthless because they were created to love and be loved. They also want girls to know that they are never alone.

TWLOHA not only inspires girls to receive help they need, but they help get the message out there. These people are known as storytellers, and they bring TWLOHA to their schools and communities to spread  knowledge on mental health issues. Junior Abigail Van Patten is a future storytellers.

“It was my original plan to start TWLOHA here at the high school this fall, but with homecoming and food drive fundraisers, I decided to wait until the spring,” Patten said. “I was inspired to join TWLOHA in the eighth grade because one of my close friends was dealing with depression and TWLOHA really helped her, so I wanted to continue it knowing that teenage girls everywhere are dealing with stress and depression every day at CFHS.”

There are many-step processes that Patten will have to take in order to make this fundraiser actually happen. She will have to find a school teacher to supervise TWLOHA and get the school’s’ approval to sell things here at the high school. She would sell things like bracelets, T-shirts, bookmarks etc. to raise money for this program.

“You are required to do two community activities in a term of two months for TWLOHA. I am really excited to get started next spring and bring awareness to students so they know it’s OK to get help and heal from depression to prevent suicide,” Patten said.