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Fundraiser in Sunnyside for LIC-based non-profit focused on suicide prevention

April 17, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan

A local suicide prevention center is looking to raise awareness of its presence in the neighborhood, while raising funds through a trivia night and happy hour next weekend.

The trivia night fundraiser next weekend will go to benefit Pieta House, an Irish non-profit dedicated to suicide and self-harm prevention that launched in Long Island City in 2015.

“We wanted to get the word out to everyone that this is a universal issue and Pieta House is open and here to help anyone,” explained one of the event organizers, Ty Sullivan. “We decided to do a local fundraiser at Bar 43 to get the word out, and to help build awareness for an even bigger event next month.”

The fundraiser will be held at Bar 43 at 43-06 43rd Street on Saturday beginning at 6 p.m. The event will consist of six rounds of trivia, drink specials, a raffle and live music throughout the night.

Attendees are asked to donate $20 at the door that will go to the charity. The $20 will entitle an attendee to a free drink, a raffle ticket, and discounted drinks until 9 p.m. All profits from the event will go to charity.

The funds raised will go directly to Pieta House, which has offered free therapeutic services to over 25,000 people since it was founded more than a decade ago in Ireland. The New York location opened in late 2015 out of the Irish Center in LIC.

“Nowadays a lot of children are affected by bullying online and in school, and we are trying to get out the message to the community that this is not just an adult issue, but has gotten bigger than that which is why these services are so important,” Sullivan said.

The event next weekend will also serve to raise awareness about the third annual nationwide “Darkness into Light” 5K walk/run, which will be held in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on May 6.

The 5K will occur in eight cities throughout the country on the same day, and will be a fundraiser for Pieta House and will offer support to those affected by suicide or self-harm.

“Coming out to show support for the fundraiser and the May 6th walk doesn’t have to be just for people who have been witness to loved ones who have taken their lives, but to prevent anyone from becoming someone who knows someone who has committed suicide. Their participation in the fundraiser will be saving lives,” Sullivan said.

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