At an event in Findlay over the weekend, 100 butterflies were released into the air to signify the goal of preventing 100 percent of suicides.

“Yes! There goes a hundred monarchs. This should be your inspiration to get you excited about going out and making a change in this community,” said Eric McKee, the executive director of NAMI Hancock County.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness put on the Suicide Prevention Vigil & Butterfly Release on Sunday at Gateway Plaza, off of Main Street just north of the Blanchard River.

The event featured 11 silhouettes painted black that symbolize the 11 people who died by suicide in Hancock County last year.

Another 12 yellow silhouettes symbolize the projected suicide deaths for 2020, the ones that McKee says we can work together to help save.

At the event, it was also announced that a butterfly garden will be built and two benches placed in the gazebo at Gateway Plaza so people will have a nice place to sit down and talk.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.

If you need help or would like to volunteer your time to help someone with a mental illness click here.