Spotlight Montana Panel: Todd Bucher, Director of MSU Veteran Services, Bruce Barnhart, Instructor in MSU’s School of Art, and Rick Gale, Bozeman Elks Lodge #463 Veteran Chairman, and Vietnam Veterans of Southwest Montana.
American Legion Post #14, Bozeman Elks Lodge #463, and Vietnam Veterans of Southwest Montana are working jointly with Montana State University Veteran Support Center, School of Art, and the MT 988 Project to promote 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 who is the 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.
In April, graphic design students from the School of Art met with MSU students and local veterans to create more than 30 challenge coins. Each design includes Montana’s Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline number 988 on one side and 988+1 on the other side for veterans.
One of the coins designed by Erica Oborsky who is a graphics student and Rick Gale, Vietnam Veterans of Southwest Montana, represents the beauty of Montana while providing a resource to both veterans and civilians when this place feels too big.
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.