March 3rd Greeter:
Craig Dunlavy
Today:
MSR Board Meeting
7:00 at Alt-N-Bach’s
February 25 MEETING:
TBD
March 3rd MEETING:
Susan Dillon Gold (tentative)
February 25th: Greeter:
George Croal
Program:
“Emergence Life Coaching”
Don Mendenhall
Coming Programs & Events
Club No. 002698 District 6250
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Chartered April 3, 1967
Madison, Wisconsin U.S.A.
Internet Edition
www.madisonsouthrotary.org
Where in the Rotary world...
AMAZING PHOTOS
Yesterday’s Meeting…
Courageous Father Speaks Out
for Suicide Prevention
By Steve Busalacchi
A gun did not claim the young life
of Brandon
Garland in 2006. Depression did.
“I was part of the stigma,”
says his father, Eric
Garland, who admits he once hoped his son would find a
different girlfriend when he heard she was on medication for
depression. “I knew nothing about depression before,” says
Garland.
His son was a bright student
, a talented McFarland high school athlete and
enjoyed the company of plenty of friends. Yet he was deeply troubled and suffered
from a brain disease that is the second leading cause of death among college students.
Now, Eric Garland spends his free time educating the public
about
suicide prevention by urging people to be aware of warning signs. Among them are
irritability, anxiety attacks, sleep pattern changes, sudden grade deflation at school,
and other problems.
Although there were clear signs of
trouble
and the Garland family did institutionalize
Brandon for fear he might hurt himself, eventually
medical authorities deemed him well-enough for
release from the hospital. “They turned him loose,”
says Garland. Tragically, Brandon took his life
before another scheduled consultation was to occur.
Garland says such a loss is unlike any
other
, as it is “very guilt-ridden. There are no
answers. There will never be any answers,” he
states sadly.
So Eric Garland is bravely doing what he
can
to help others avoid the anguish his family has
experienced and continues to experience, with the
loss of their beloved son. Eric Garland talks about
it, painful as it is, so others may learn and
hopefully, address the illness before it may be too
late.
Garland has chosen to fight the stigma
of
mental illness, rather than hide it under the rug
because of embarrassment. What better tribute to a
loved one could there be?
editor’s note: more information on suicide is available at www.HOPES-Wi.org If you would
like to support Eric in the fundraising walk in Seattle, you can reach him at 833-1936.
Rob Gooze delivers a Rotary flag
from the Rotary Club of Xela,
Guatemala. Rob was in Guate-
mala participating in the Guate-
mala
Literacy Project (See Amazing
Photos Left) He says he will be
on the Program Schedule soon to
tell us more about the project
and his stay in Guatemala.
Eric Garland
The Guatemala Literacy Project (GLP)
is a partnership between North American
& Guatemalan Rotary clubs and the non-
profit organization Cooperative for Edu-
cation (CoEd). This initiative provides
badly-needed textbooks, library materials,
and computer labs to underprivileged
children in Guatemala.
For the rest of the story see Page Two.
