Thank you for your interest in and commitment to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Your organization?s efforts to help individuals in crisis and to prevent suicide in your community are establishing the Lifeline network as a valuable resource in the mental health field. Together, we can spread the word that mental health problems are treatable and help is available.

To help raise awareness about your crisis center and the Lifeline, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services? Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in conjunction with the Mental Health Association of New York City, has created this comprehensive toolkit. This toolkit provides you with everything you need to raise awareness of the lifeline in the near term, and to conduct a successful campaign during major mental health events, such as National Suicide Prevention Week (September) and National Mental Health Awareness Month (May).

This kit is organized into three sections:

• Media Outreach. These materials will help you generate local media interest in your suicide prevention activities and the Lifeline.
• Marketing Activities. These materials will help you promote your services to your community.
• Partnership Development. These materials will help you to enlist potential partners in your suicide prevention efforts.

To begin planning your campaign, please take some time to review these steps for launching your campaign.

These materials have been provided to help you promote your services. Please feel free to customize and print additional copies of them. Printed copies of many of these Lifeline materials are also available from SAMHSA's National Mental Health Information Center. Crisis centers participating in the Lifeline can order up to 500 copies of each product. Organizations and individuals not part of the Lifeline network can order up to 50 of each item. To order these materials, please contact the National Mental Health Information Center directly at 1-877-SAMHSA-7 or send an email to nmhic-info@samhsa.hhs.gov. You can also visit http://store.mentalhealth.org/publications/ordering.aspx to get a list of materials. The materials are listed alphabetically under "National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL)." If you would like more that these amounts, please send your request via email to lifeline@samhsa.hhs.gov. Please note that delivery of materials can take up to 4 weeks.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the Lifeline Communications Team at lifeline@samhsa.hhs.gov or 1-800-790-2647.

Research indicates that the way suicide is reported in the media can contribute to additional suicides and suicide attempts. Conversely, stories about suicide can inform readers and viewers about the likely causes of suicide, its warning signs, trends in suicide rates, and recent treatment advances. The following recommendations have been developed to assist reporters and editors in safe reporting on suicide. Find out more