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Semicolon fundraiser marks third year Participants get inked; Agora Crisis Center raises funds By Robert Maler The free online dictionary defines a semicolon as “a mark of punctuation used to indicate a major division in a sentence.” For many, however, the semicolon is a symbol that means much more than punctuation. The third annual Semicolon Tattoo Project will be held at local tattoo shops this Saturday as a fundraiser for the Agora Crisis Center. The project originated as a social media movement in 2013 for which people drew semicolons on their bodies and posted pictures of them to show support for those whose lives have been touched by mental illness and its effects. Jenn Brown, a program specialist for Agora, said she has seen the project grow from being an idea in the office to a community event, to a national phenomenon. Brown said she’s been overwhelmed by the amount of support the project received nationally.
Paul Talley / Daily Lobo / @DailyLobo
Angelia Santistevan tattoos Louis Cardoza at King’s Kreation Tattoo on Tuesday afternoon. King’s Kreation is just one of the tattoo shops participating in this year’s Semicolon Tattoo Project.
“I love that our community is coming together in such a creative way to support each other. I’m anticipating a really awesome turnout,” Jenn Brown program specialist for Agora
Paul Talley / Daily Lobo / @DailyLobo
Jason Smith, one of the owners of King’s Kreation, and Xavier Rosa talk outside of the shop on Tuesday afternoon.
“I love that our community is coming together in such a creative way to support each other. I’m anticipating a really awesome turnout,” Brown said. “During our second year, we doubled our participation from the first, and this year we are looking to just blow that out of the water.” She said although the semicolon project focuses primarily on mental illness and suicide awareness, Agora exists to help people tackle any issue. In addition to having highly trained, skilled volunteers there to listen to issues, the organization seeks to provide callers with options or referrals to help them with their issues, she said. Agora is a student-run organization that provides free, confidential support to people locally and around the nation. Molly Brack, the director of Agora, said the crisis center was created in 1970 after a freshman UNM student took his own life. The student approached a psychology professor, but he was referred to student health and counseling, where he was told he could not be seen for two weeks. He then tried to get counseling outside of school, but didn’t
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