Staff Reports
Ivy Tech Community College has received a contribution for a suicide prevention and intervention program from the proceeds of a Columbus North High School student’s senior project.
Lauren Frederick donated the proceeds from Scotty’s Mile, a one-mile run/walk conducted July 20, to the Hope Squad. The Hope Squad is a peer-to-peer program designed to train students to provide outreach to fellow students in distress by providing a direct connection to the local mental health system.
Frederick’s brother, Scotty, died from suicide at age 23 in December 2010, the family said. Lauren Frederick was in fifth grade at that time. The Frederick family has conducted the one-mile run/walk to raise money for suicide awareness and prevention for two years in memory of Scotty, and Lauren Frederick organized the event this year as part of her senior project.
More than 100 people participated in Scotty’s Mile last month, Lauren Frederick said.
The Frederick family felt reassured knowing the Hope Squad had formed to help with suicide prevention and intervention, said Matt Frederick, Lauren Frederick’s father.
Ivy Tech is developing the Hope Squad partnering with IUPUC and community stakeholder support through a grant from the Heritage Fund — The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County, said Chris Schilling, Ivy Tech spokesman.
“We are so grateful to Lauren and her family for their thoughtful and kind donation to the Hope Squad as we work with IUPUC and our community stakeholders to develop this imperative program,” said Therese Copeland, Ivy Tech executive director of resource development. “We believe the Hope Squad will prepare our students and our community to gracefully and effectively intervene and prevent tragic loss of life.”
The Hope Squad program is taught as a curriculum so students learn the fundamentals of peer support, a deeper understanding of mental health and suicide and how to become more active in teaching and training their fellow students and reaching out to the community, Ivy Tech officials said.
The program will begin this fall, Schilling said. The Hope Squad is in the process of planning events for Suicide Prevention Week, which begins Sept. 11, and will include a presentation by Lauren Frederick.
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For more information about Hope Squad, visit
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