'Robbie's Hope' Campaign Having Bigger Impact Than Expected

click to expand

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - They came together to raise awareness about teen suicide, and they ended up raising a lot of money too. CBS4 first introduced you to the family behind Robbie's Hope in January.

Robbie Eckert (credit: CBS)

Their son, Robbie, took his life last October, and ever since, his parents have been on a mission to save others.

"It just continues to fill us up and give us that drive to keep going," said Kari Eckert, Robbie's mother.

Kari Eckert (credit: CBS)

For the past several weeks Robbie's Hope has helped organize what they call their Hopefull Drive, and teens from schools around the metro area pitched in to help. Their goal was to raise awareness about mental health.

(credit: CBS)

Teams descended from all over the metro area and sparked up conversations with complete strangers.

"It was about creating awareness and empowering teens to be able to open up the dialogue. They know this is an issue, and they can bring it to everyone else," Eckert told CBS4's Dominic Garcia.

CBS4's Dominic Garcia interviews Kari Eckert and Elizabeth Becker. (credit: CBS)

One of the teens who helped was Elizabeth Becker, who grew up with Robbie.

"We would just walk up to people and say hey do you have a minute to talk about Robbie's Hope," she told CBS4.

Not only did they raise awareness, but the teens raised over $24,000. The money will go toward making more hope groups, where teens can talk about mental health.

(credit: CBS)

"It's about creating teen-led awareness and teen-led programming and hope group is the prime example of that. Giving kids a safe space to talk about how they feel," said Kari Eckert.

LINK: Robbie's Hope Foundation | Robbie's Hope Facebook Page

More resources:
Safe2Tell
An anonymous way for students, parents, school staff and community members to report concerns regarding their safety or the safety of others
safe2tell.org
1-877-542-7233

The Trevor Project
Crisis prevention and suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth
thetrevorproject.org
1-866-488-7386

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
1-800-273-8255

Mobile Crisis Services, Denver Health
24/7 service that provides mental health support to residents of the city and county of Denver and to Mental Health Center of Denver consumers during and after a crisis
https://www.denverhealth.org/services/emergency-medicine/psychiatric