In this informal livestream, Brooke Cheney, owner and instructor at A Great Start Shooting School, discusses suicide prevention and mental health, emphasizing that two‑thirds of gun‑related deaths are suicides and urging broader attention to mental health. She recounts attending a charity dinner organized by the Alexander Jordan Jameson Foundation, which provides free musical instruments and lessons to at‑risk children, highlighting the therapeutic value of music. Brooke promotes the idea of a simple, memorable crisis hotline (811) alongside Connecticut’s 211 line, and references the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s resources. She calls viewers to support suicide‑prevention efforts through donations, volunteering, sharing information, or small actions like buying a coffee. The video also mentions the Power to Pivot event she attended, featuring speakers such as Dean Graziosi, Jay Shetty, and Tony Robbins, and encourages viewers to watch the replay. Throughout, she maintains an encouraging, hopeful tone, stressing that even modest contributions can make a difference.
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So some very fluffy hair here. I realize I'm going live with a fan underneath me and an air conditioner. I'm not sure how awesome or horrible this audio is. There we go. All right, so what I call this suicide dinner, something like that. Yeah, so anyway, I just got back. Hi, my name is Brooke Cheney. I am the owner and instructor here at A Great Start Shooting School, and I talk about suicide prevention, mental health, stuff like that, because 2 out of every 3 gun deaths that you hear about in the news are suicides. So if we're actually looking to save lives, imagine for a moment if we actually paid attention to mental health, because not only could we save those 2 out of every 3 lives are killed by guns. If we actually start talking about mental health on a regular basis, we could also save a lot more lives by people who take their life by car and by drugs and various other means of how people die by suicide. So why am I on? It is not Saturday. I know all of you are used to seeing me Suicide Prevention Saturday, right? So part of this is because because I am doing this. No, I'm— where am I? I'm on YouTube right now. Yes, I'm on YouTube right now, and I'm gonna try to go from Facebook to YouTube because I want people to be able to use these as resources, and on Facebook they just get lost. So let's talk about dinner. Just went to a suicide a fundraiser. Suicide fundraiser? That sounds awful. That's not what I meant. It went to a charity dinner that helped support suicide prevention stuff. So let me tell you about it because that is what I want to do. Hold on. Alexander Jordan Jameson Foundation. These are the folks who put together the dinner. They, uh, teach— let's see, I'll just read what it says, it's so much easier. Have you always wanted to learn how to play an instrument but don't have one or can't afford the lessons? The Alexander Jordan Jameson Foundation wants to help. Our mission is to provide free musical instruments and free lessons to children in the community that would otherwise not have access to them, in particular children that are at risk. And battling anxiety, depression, other emotional health issues. So right here is their handy-dandy little logo, and somewhere I got one of their stickers. I have a feeling it's still in my pocketbook. So, but the plan is, see, like, probably about right there, this logo, you will see that. So now you will know what it's for. And we went to dinner, and the proceeds from the dinner help teach kids that can't afford lessons. And I know for some of us, the idea of playing a guitar or something seems really awesome, and we try, but, but there's also just, you know, there's something amazingly soothing about music. It is the international language. Like, if you— no matter what language you speak, if you play an instrument you can read music. It's kind of like the universal thing. So I thought that was very cool, and I only just learned about them tonight. Uh, some friends of mine just happened to tell me, hey, there's this benefit, do you want to go? And we only made our reservations today. They didn't go though, so it's okay. Um, so one of the things I talked about tonight was there's going to be— I want to say 811 I need to go talk to Will. Will is kind of the founder, I believe, of Alexander Jordan Foundation. He's going to give a little speech tonight. And 911 is for emergency, and I believe next year he said 811 is going to be if you're in a mental crisis, because one of the things he talked about was American Foundation for Suicide Prevention They do have an 800 number, but when you're distressed and freaking out, are you going to remember an 800 number? No. Can you remember 811? Yes, yes, you can. So for those of you who haven't seen it before, support, research, education, advocacy— that's what the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention does. Their 800 number, of course, is not on this thing, but wait, I have more because Will had stuff to give to us. So Suicide Stops Here, a lot of it is about being together, right? One of the things he talked about tonight was that if each one of us is willing to talk about our story, it allows other people to talk about their story. And all of a sudden suicide and mental health is not the stigma that it is currently. Matter of fact, one of their flyers here— what's it say right there? Unstigma. Yeah, unstigma. I can read backwards. Not really. So what else? Milford, September 26, 2021. Look, it's something you can go to, you might have fun at. What else? Vendors, food truck, cornhole, local bands, The Nables, Mystic Seahorse, others to be determined. So if you're a band and you'd like to be part of this, I'm guessing you can probably get a hold of them. They have Instagram, Facebook, and it's Alexander Jameson— sorry, Alexander Jordan Jameson Foundation. And you can email them too. So events, local, small that sort of stuff. So Will and I talked, and we were saying how that each one of us can reach one, right? You're watching this however you got here. I don't know. But if I only reach one person today, or maybe I happen to reach one person this month, or maybe just this year I wrote I was able to reach one person, it's still one more person that might realize there are other options out there, and they're not alone. Here in Connecticut, you can just dial 211 if you're in a mental crisis. And, you know, it's fun helping kids, stuff like that, doing something that makes you feel good. Now, people tell me all the time, thank you for doing what you're doing, this conversation right here, right? Not everyone has the time to do this. What does everyone have time to? Oh, send an email, maybe drop $5 in their PayPal or however they take donations. Because I was there today in person, so I was able to give to them. So same thing with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Someday I'll, I'll read this because they really do a ton partnering with so many places. So there you have it, fun stuff. This is what I did today to help prevent suicide, to help talk about mental health. Check them out, maybe attend the event, uh, who knows. Maybe you're a music teacher or you have instruments that maybe they could use, I don't know. So all of us can do something. You don't have to stand here in front of a camera and talk, but we can do something. It could be that $5, that cup of coffee, right? It could be attending, it could be promoting, it could be sharing this video so somebody else who has other resources can help. Because we can all do what we can do. We can't do a lot more and a lot less, but we can probably do more than we think. And the truth of the matter is we're never going to know the impact we actually have on the world. But we have to keep trying, because as long as we keep trying, there's hope. If there is hope, we will continue to grow. If we continue to grow, life becomes better, at least in my opinion. So that's kind of it. Now, another thing that I'm all jacked up for is the fact that I watched this thing called Power Pivot today. There's this dude, Dean Graziosi, and he is I don't know how to explain. He's really cool at introducing you to very cool people. So I'm going to drop the link down here when I get off in the description for Power to Pivot. Now here's the deal. I have no idea how long that replay is going to be up because it was an all-day affair and you actually had to pay if you wanted to see the replay. So it may only be today, which is July 15th, 2021. And maybe you can see it. It's really cool. If you wanna fast forward to the people you wanna listen to, Jay Shetty is one of my favorites. Oh my gosh, there's another one, Rachel's Promise. I can't even think of his name. Pete Vargas, he's towards the end. Tony Robbins is also in there. And who else? Oh, I can't think 'cause I didn't see all of them today. But I'm actually gonna go watch the replay now. I hope you will join me and good night. Oh, I'll put, I'll put the email and Instagram and Facebook down below too. All right, y'all have a lovely day, evening, morning, whenever you're watching this.
