Take Action! 2005 raises funds, awareness and ushers in plans for the next year

Take Action! has announced their plans for the upcoming year as well as the results of this years tours and compilations. In 2005, the organization has raised over $65,000 in donations for the National Hopeline Network (1-800-SUICIDE), a suicide prevention and crisis hotline and the Youth America Hotline! 1-877-YOUTHLINE (1-877-968-8454), a peer-to-peer line pairing youth callers with youth crisis workers in their area.

Tour organizers gathered over 41,000 petition signatures at the shows this year, a 400 percent increase from the previous trek. The signed petitions will be sent to Congress requesting funding for a national suicide prevention strategy and asking that mental-health parity in health insurance coverage is implemented for all Americans. In February, the charity also took to Capitol Hill to call on Congress to fully appropriate the $82 million funding for the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, which passed September 9th, 2004. The act was introduced by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) in memory of his son who died by suicide.

The group also has plans for another compilation and tour for Winter 2006.