To Friends of the Makayla Fund – Golf Tournament / GALA:

On the morning of November 15th2012, we found almost 16-year-old Makayla Guerriero had died by suicide. We were completely devastated, and could not imagine life without her and why she did this.Makayla was an outgoing, pretty, teenage athlete with plenty of friends. She did not dodrugs, was not being bullied, and had her whole seemingly bright life ahead of her. We still miss her desperately and wonder: Were there warning signs? We hate to think of any other families going through what we have been through, so we are continuing our quest to not only raise awareness about teen suicide, but to give people concrete steps they can take if they think someone they know is at risk.

We hope you will join the Makayla Fund’s third annual Golf Classic on Saturday September 10th at the Ridder Farms Golf Club in East Bridgewater. For those not able to golf, there will be a GALA Fundraiser that evening at the VFW Hall 795 Essex Street, Whitman(Golfers already have a complementary ticket for GALA as part of golf package).

The proceeds from this tournament will benefit the Makayla Fund, a 501(c)(3) charity, and be used to put an evidence-based teen suicide prevention programin localmiddle and high schools.The SOS - Signs of Suicide Prevention Program, created by the local nonprofit Screening for Mental Health(the Makayla Fund has contracted this group at a very high stipend), teaches students and trains staff to recognize the signs and symptoms of depression and suicide risk in teens and what action steps to take. It is a highly popular and successful program that has been proven to reduce suicide attempts.So far your donations have started close to100 community schools systems with this program—again thanks to your donations.

Our goal is to save one life. Even one life would make the Makayla Fund successful in our eyes. Also, because we know the value of sports to teenagers’ wellbeing, the Makayla Fund provides scholarship money for high school students who want to play sports but cannot afford the fees and equipment. (The scholarship funds both.)

We would like your organization to be a part of our exciting day by participating as a sponsor, prize donor(no gift is too small) or donorin accordance with your ability and interest. As a sponsor of this important community event, you will have placement on the brochure or a sign at one of the holes, so people will be aware of your efforts to raise awareness about teen suicide. We thank you on behalf of the Guerriero family and friends, and the students who will receive assistance from your kindness.

The Guerriero Family

Please make checks payable to:“The Makayla Fund”

Mail to:Richard Guerriero Chairman

8 Kipling Road

South Weymouth MA 02190

H: 781 337-7622 W: 781 551-0628

So what is The Makayla Fund and what do we do?

The Makayla Fund was started after the suicide death of Makayla Guerriero. We now have a non-profit for teen suicide awareness. In Sept. 2015, Screening for Mental Health and the Makayla Fund committed to continuing our partnership to provide comprehensive and effective suicide prevention programming to school communities. In 2015 and 2016, funding from MF has been used to provide SOS (Signs of Suicide) Programs and extra materials to schools, to provide youth suicide prevention training to communities, to support the national launch of the SOS Certified Training Institute, to support the development of the SOS Online Parent Portal, and to raise awareness of the SOS.

School Systems Partnered with: Abington, Bridgewater/Raynham, E. Bridgewater, Raynham, Rockland, South Shore Voc, Weymouth, Whitman - Hanson with scheduled training at Blue Hills and Worcester School System.

Future school systems state-wide are being planned depending on funds available to support our program.

We have been the FIRST group to sponsor the “Train The Trainer” SOS (Signs Of Suicide) with Screening For Mental Health into local school systems—all from a small family non-profit who wants to save one life and then move on to the next teen.

You bet we are doing something!!

SPONSOR A SCHOOL FOR ONLY $500 DONATION