Music sales to help suicide prevention

The Detroit-based Student Driver Band has teamed up with NoResolve.org, a suicide prevention organization, to create an album of music to raise awareness about suicide. The album is being sold as a preview to a Nov. 17 benefit dinner and concert in Clinton Township, and proceeds will distributed between three suicide prevention organizations.

“Breaking the Silence Volume 1” contains original songs from artists all over the country. The Student Driver Band, which has two songs on the album, was founded by Clinton Township resident Dennis Liegghio, who is also chairman of NoResolve.org.

Liegghio’s father committed suicide when he was 14 years old, and he struggled with the loss for 10 years. Now 31 years old, he’s made it his mission to help other survivors of suicide, and to raise awareness about the subject.

“As people become more open with the subject, and you detach the stigma from it, people can talk to their friends and family (about it) and accept counseling,” Liegghio said.

According to the Macomb County Crisis Center, one person dies from suicide every 17 seconds in the United States, and a suicide attempt is made every 39 seconds.

“It’s a real crisis,” said Jean Larch, coordinator for a Survivors of Suicide support program at the crisis center. She’s also co-author of the book “Dying to be Free: A Healing Guide for Families After a Suicide,” which she wrote with Bev Cobain, cousin of famed Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, who died in 1994. Cobain will speak at the benefit Nov. 17.

“Suicide knows no boundaries,” Larch said. “It can strike anyone at any time.”

Larch says one way to combat the problem is with events like Breaking the Silence.

“I believe in it,” Larch said. “I think music is unique. It can be a really powerful form of communication.”

Some of the songs on the album will be debuted at a benefit dinner and concert Nov. 17 at the Mirage Banquet Hall in Clinton Township.

“I wrote the first song on the CD probably seven years ago,” Liegghio said. “I wrote that about my father.”
NoResolve.org held a worldwide contest to find songs for the album. Out of 180 songs that were submitted relating to suicide, the top 14 were selected.

Proceeds from the CD sales and event will benefit the Michigan Association for Suicide Prevention, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and local Survivors of Suicide programs.

“It is a somber subject, but it’s not going to be a somber event,” he said. “We want to celebrate the lives that have been lost and raise awareness about prevention through music.”

The Macomb County Crisis Center, which has been in existence for 30 years, is a 24-7 phone line for anyone experiencing problems, such as suicidal thoughts, depression or emotional emergencies. It can be reached at (586) 307-9100. Callers can talk to someone confidentially or get referrals for additional help.

The crisis center also hosts a support group for anyone who has been affected by suicide. The group meets on the first Wednesday and third Tuesday of each month from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. For details, call the crisis center.

For more information or to purchase the album, visit www.NoResolve.org or call Dennis Liegghio toll-free at (877) 228-9550. The CD costs $12, and contains 14 original songs.

Tickets to the Nov. 17 benefit are also available online or by calling the toll-free number. Single tickets are $75, which includes admission, dinner and a premium open bar. A table of eight, including dinner, admission and open bar for each guest, can be reserved for $600. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

Tickets can also be purchased by sending a check payable to “NoResolve.org” to 13995 E. 10 Mile Road, Warren, MI 48089.

The benefit will be held at the Mirage Banquet Hall in Clinton Township, located at 16980 18 Mile Road.

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