Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Pennsylvania ranks 29th among the 50 states, with a suicide rate of 14 per 100,000 people, higher than the national rate of 13 per 100,000 people, according to the American Association of Suicidology.

Mental health professionals work to find effective ways to prevent people from taking their own lives."We know that suicide prevention needs to target communities, as well as individuals. Community members need to be trained to notice when others may be showing risk factors and reach out to them and express concern and help them get connected with appropriate mental health services," says Dr. Nadine Kaskow of Emory University's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences."People need to take people's expressions of suicidal thoughts, feelings and actions very seriously," she says.Schuylkill County has a Suicide Prevention Task Force that offers resources, materials and speakers who will teach people how to recognize and help those who may be considering suicide.The group can be reached at 570-621-2890.Although Tara Stauffenberg of Tamaqua isn't a professional, the devastating experience of losing her father and brother to suicide has prompted her to create Dudefest, to raise money for the Schuylkill County Suicide Prevention Task Force.The August event at the West Penn Rod & Gun Club began to honor the memory of her brother Cory McCarroll, who took his life on June 28, 2009. Their father, Jack McCarroll, ended his life in 1981, at age 30."I started Dudefest for Cory, because I couldn't save him. I couldn't help him," she says. "Maybe I could help someone else."