Graphic design students at Montana State University have partnered with the university’s Veteran Service office and the MT 988 Project to create suicide prevention-themed “challenge coins” meant to increase awareness of suicide and resources available to help people, including veterans, who are in crisis.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Montana has the third highest suicide rate in the nation, and military veterans are among those most affected.
Todd Bucher, director of MSU Veteran Services, and Bruce Barnhart, instructor in MSU’s School of Art, said that statistic led them to partner with the MT 988 Project, a suicide awareness program that aims to empower people to ask for help.
The Veterans Crisis Line’s new number—988 then Press 1—helps make it easier to remember and share the number to access help in times of need.