Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- Gov. Sarah Palin recently appointed Pat Donelson, an ordained minister and fishing guide from Wasilla, to a seat reserved for clergy on the Suicide Prevention Council.

The 15-member board, made up of elected government officials, representatives of nonprofit agencies and community members, meets three times a year in a policy-making effort to reduce the suicide rate in Alaska.

The state, which the council stated had been rated highest in the nation since 1991 for suicide rates, has dropped to third behind Montana and Nevada, according to a report prepared by the American Association of Suicidology.

Donelson, 45, has been involved with suicide prevention since 1996, when he co-founded Carry the Cure, a faith-based nonprofit organization that aims to stem the tide of suicide among teenagers. Raised in California and Oregon, he was ordained a minister through the Assemblies of God in Alaska, which he has called home for more than 19 years. He will serve on the council for four years.

Q: How did you become interested in suicide prevention?

A: We had some pretty high-impact encounters where villagers, ... where we'd show up at moments where a crisis had just happened.

We were out in the village where a villager was giving a tour, walking us through the streets. We walked up to a house where there was a man sitting on steps and two kids playing in the yard.

We were introduced and when they moved away, the (tour guide) said, "See those little kids? Their mom just committed suicide last week and their dad committed suicide last year."

He pointed across the road and there was a wood box chained to a tree and he said, "That's their mother." They were playing 15 to 20 feet from their mom in a box. They couldn't bury anyone yet because of the frost. We were standing there in shock.

Episodes like that got me interested and spurred me on to forming Carry the Cure. Last year, I turned that over to Bill Pagaran (of Palmer). So when I was asked by the governor to participate (in the Suicide Prevention Council), it was a natural fit.

Q: What are some goals of the council?

A: There's something called the Gate Keepers program that will help train people in their communities. It's a training that helps people be prepared to know how to respond -- look for signs, know how to intervene or refer to the proper help. This is just one component of the council's entire effort.

Another component is the TOT program -- "trainer to trainer" so communities will have their own people on site to help train others. That way it'll spread much faster.

We're hoping for funding for that, about $1 million worth. The money goes for funding for initiatives already going on. There are some creative things going on around the state.

Q: What are your duties?

A: The council is mandated by the Legislature to have a smattering of society on the council. I serve on the clergy seat. I bring a voice to the board that gives a perspective. When you are a clergy member, you end up dealing first-hand with people in situations other folks might not have access to.

Q: Do you have any goals while serving on the council?

A: My goal is to see suicide prevented and to see life. I'm for life. I want to see them live, not check out early because of problems they think they can't overcome. I want to see this epidemic come to an end. It's totally preventable and I want to be part of the solution.

Q: What's the No. 1 cause of suicide that you've found?

A: I believe it's hopelessness. For whatever contributing factor that person has going on in their life, all those factors combined bring them to an overwhelming sense of hopelessness.

In one study done here, which studies the period between 2003-06, was an in-depth study that looks at the family, coroners, state troopers. It analyzed the contributors in suicide.

By far, they found firearms in rural areas -- long guns -- are the weapons of choice. In urban areas it's the handgun. Sixty-five percent of people who commit suicide in Alaska use a firearm, so we're trying to train people to secure their firearms, to cut back on access to a loaded firearm at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Q: How have suicide prevention methods changed over the past decade?

A: I was pleasantly surprised to see the advances at the state level compared to 10 years ago. Back then, it was more throw money at programs, more outcome based. When we received any funding, the constraints were so narrow and the reporting we had to give was so narrowly focused it made it difficult to deal with suicide prevention effectively -- that's my opinion.

Today, the council has taken a much more holistic approach. Now they're looking at things like family and culture, even working with the arts council. They're integrating with the alcohol and drug prevention effort. For example, a carver could receive funding to train a young person -- give them a trade, something to do.

In the past, rural villages, especially, didn't want to discuss (suicide). They didn't want to be labeled and show up on statistical analysis. But the tide has turned and people are realizing that unless they talk about it, they'll never be able to stop it.

Q: Do you plan on going out among communities?

A: Absolutely. I'm hoping to be part of the Gate Keeper training, to take it and become a trainer. I want to get out and do that, to be involved in the community. That's where my heart is, to be where the people are and make a difference on the ground.

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