to write love on her arms

a few years ago i was flipping through a magazine and saw an ad that caught my eye... it was nothing spectacular, just a guy rocking out on a guitar.  he was wearing a t-shirt with "to write love on her arms" written on it.  not exactly sure what caught my eye but after a couple of minutes of looking over it i flipped the page.  after that, i kept noticing the ads in my magazine and decided to finally investigate what exactually this was. 

i found out that "to write love on her arms" was a non-profit organization that was trying to find ways to support people dealing with depression, self-injury and suicide.  at the time, i was in the midst of trying to support a friend that was going through a hard time.  trying to lend my support proved to be mentally draining for me as i felt like i was on suicide watch a lot of the time. 

fortunately nothing "bad" happened to my friend but i know of friends of friends' who's stories didn't end happily.  and also having worked in a psychiatrists office for a little bit, i was a little familiar of the dangers of depression and self-injury.  i understand that this orgnanization may not be able to reach and help people in my most immediate vicinity but to know, to hope, that they will be able to help someone somewhere gives me hope. 

TWLOHA offered some cool looking merchandise.  i didn't want to order off the internet and was hoping i would be able to find some in stores.  i had no luck in Vancouver and only found random super small sized stuff in Seattle.  when i visited Florida (where they are based), i was finally able to find stuff at Cocoa Beach.  recently i made an online purchase... i couldn't help it!!  anyway, although it may seem superficial or commercial, buying t-shirts and such, i'm okay with it knowing that maybe it means that this will help the movement.

to find information about TWLOHA, visit their website http://www.twloha.com/

their mission statement is as follows:
To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.  TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.