TWLOHA sells candy grams to promote suicide awareness

University of Northern Iowa students had the opportunity to send a sweet surprise to someone special earlier this week. Members of UNI's chapter of To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) sold candy grams in Maucker Union on Monday and Tuesday for Valentine's Day.

According to Derrick Marzen, a sophomore deciding major and TWLOHA member, the group wanted people on campus to know they were loved, and they wanted "to raise awareness more than anything."

TWLOHA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who suffer from depression, inflict self-injuries or have attempted or thought about suicide. Since 2006, the organization has been planted in more than 100 countries and their website states that their ongoing vision is to "reduce the suicide rate in America and all over the world."

UNI's chapter was established in the summer of 2009 and has been active in donating funds to the cause ever since. All proceeds from campus fundraisers go to Pathways Behavioral Services, a substance abuse counseling center in Cedar Falls.

The student organization has big plans for the rest of the semester, including a "free hug day" and a multi-organization event that Marzen said was "still under wraps," but will be revealed within the next few months.