Cedar Rapids Gamers Saving One Life at a Time

September is National Suicide Prevention Month and a group of Cedar Rapids gamers recently gathered to do just that, help raise money and awareness for suicide prevention. The Role on for Life event was recently at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church where participants gathered together to hang out, and discuss life, and play Dungeons and Dragons.

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According to KCRG, about 20 people showed up at this event to participate in role-playing tabletop games which helped to raise money for the Alive and Running Iowa organization.

One of the participants at the event was Dustin Puls he told KCRG a little bit about the Dungeons and Dragons game and how it allows people to create characters and how the game itself helped him out of a difficult time in his life.

I got into D&D in a very difficult time in my life. It helped me just have an outlet, just to get away from anything and everything that was going on. I’m here today in part because of Dungeons and Dragons.

Individuals at the event explained how Dungeons and Dragons is a great way for someone to express themself and meet other like-minded people. Personally, I don't have a ton of experience with the Dungeons and Dragons game, however, I have played it before when I was younger.

A friend of mine and his dad were really into playing and it was a lot of fun. Any excuse to hang out with your friends and raise money for a good cause sounds like a great idea to me. The event was organized by Tim Woodward and he told KCRG why he enjoys playing the game.

I have depression. So it’s kind of like, just going around, it gets me out of my life, and I get to be something that I’m not. I can be more myself than I can in normal society.

According to CBS, suicidal deaths were up in the year 2021, compared to 2020. That's why events like this and organizations like Alive and Running Iowa are so important. Suicide is such a permanent solution for a nonpermanent problem. Anything that can be done to raise awareness and money for suicide prevention is something everyone should support.

According to KCRG, this event raised close to $1,900 for suicide prevention and there have been discussions on how to have a bigger event next year. The new suicide and crisis lifeline phone number is 988.