Hundreds of local residents and families came out to Putnam’s Rotary Park Saturday June 9 for the 12th Annual Particle Accelerator: A Day of Music and Hope, an annual benefit concert that raises awareness for suicide and depression and funds for United Services.
The free, all day music festival featured 18 bands playing music of all genres and for all ages. The concert began at noon and continued until 11 p.m.
The festival started in 2007 by family and friends of Putnam resident Jack Young Jr., who died by suicide on his 27th birthday that year.
The annual benefit concert has two main goals, organizers said. The first is to raise funds and awareness to support United Services, Inc., one of Connecticut’s most comprehensive private, non-profit behavioral health centers, providing mental and behavioral health education, prevention, treatment and social services to the children, adults and families of northeastern Connecticut since 1964.
“Particle Accelerator continues to be an important outlet for our community to talk about suicide and depression and celebrate recovery and hope,” said United Services President/CEO Diane L. Manning. “We are grateful for the work organizers do throughout the year, to the many sponsors and businesses that support the event and the people that come out to enjoy the day each year.”
Organizers said this year’s event raised more than $10,000 for local community behavioral health support, as well as suicide prevention trainings, a public education initiative that helps the public identify people in the midst of a mental health crisis more readily and get them the resources and professional help they need before they harm themselves or others.
Many concert-goers also took the time to sign a petition in support of equitable state mental health funding for Northeast Connecticut.
The second event goal is to provide information and support for depression and suicide prevention, while promoting music and civic engagement as a healthy alternative to drug and alcohol abuse among young adults.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death for Americans in 2015, with 44,193 suicides reported. This figure tops the 41,523 women who died of breast cancer in 2015, according to the CDC.
Performers Saturday included: Kala Farnham, Adam Trudel, Llama Tsunami, The Papa Joe Show, Gracelyn Rennick, Shane Hall, Fleet, White Rose Confession and more.
In addition to the music, the event also featured information on local resources from United Services, Putnam PRIDE (Partnership to Reduce the Influence of Drugs for Everyone), the Norwich Vet Center, the Windham County chapter for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the Open Arms LGBT Support Group.
Particle Accelerator’s Wall of Angels, a moving tribute to friends and family members lost the suicide, honored 253 people this year with photos on the wall and the lighting of luminaria at dusk.
Since 2007, the Particle Accelerator concerts have raised more than $50,000 for local mental health services.