ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A stateline organization saves lives by spreading its message to young people.

Shatter Our Silence celebrated its seventh annual fundraiser on Thursday. The group’s mission is to raise awareness for young adult suicide.

This event is SOS’s main way to pay for its education campaigns. Kevin Polky, the organization’s founder, said that the most important thing anyone can do is learn about the suicide warning signs.

“Educating yourself about what are those warning signs, what are those risk factors, so that when someone comes to you about, let’s say feeling down or saying that they would rather not be here anymore, or feeling hopeless, or just feeling like things are never going to change, that being able to move toward them with nonjudgmental empathy and curiosity about what’s going on and the whole space,” Polky said.

Eyewitness News is an official TV partner with Shatter our Silence. The organization has educated nearly 25,000 students in the stateline with its campaigns so far.