Suicide Prevention Month: Find Your Anchor at Kean University

By Josephine Carrillo | Published October 16, 2023

On Sept. 21st, Morris Ave Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), a student-run public relations firm at Kean University, decided to collaborate with Find Your Anchor (FYA), a non-profit organization that aims to spread awareness and educate on suicide prevention, in honor of September being National Suicide Prevention Month. 

Find Your Anchor was founded by Alli Borowsky, a graphic designer who struggled with mental health issues and contemplated the idea of ending her life. 

Borowsky believed the available resources seemed  “cold, sterile, corporate and uncolorful” so she decided to create the resource she wished she had. She turned her pain into action and founded Find Your Anchor and designed the Anchor Box. 

Establishing your anchor means finding that one thing that will keep you “firmly planted” and provide a feeling of safety and stability, that you can depend on “no matter what winds or storm may come.”

“Find Your Anchor is a community of strangers that care,” said Borowsky. “Giving out Anchor boxes is a self-fulfilling act and a pay-it-forward movement. meaning one does it out of love and care, expecting nothing in exchange and with the hopes that these boxes will be accessible to all in need. 

“Morris Ave PRSSA is honored to collaborate with Find Your Anchor because we believe in their mission to support people with mental health in their time of need. Suicide prevention is such a personal movement to all of us and we’re honored to bring the Anchor boxes to Kean,” said Morris Ave PRSSA co-president Isabel Evans, who majors in public relations and minor in women and gender studies. 

Riley Pond, co-president of Morris Ave PRSSA in the Communications Graduate Program shared that their mission “hit home” for her.

 “I’ve had problems regarding my mental health before. Depression, suicide, feeling lost or hopeless — these aren’t limited to a specific community, these feelings impact us all,” said Pond. “When you care for someone who is facing these issues, it’s hard to address. You don’t want them to feel like they’re in trouble for opening up to you. These boxes are an amazing gesture to show you care without the person feeling attacked.”

Following the nautical theme, the anchor boxes are blue. The CEO had studied the calming effects of such and settled for a particular shade of cobalt blue. 

“Inside these boxes are resources to seek mental health, such as different hotlines or websites. It includes a mixtape card with a playlist to help you feel better. There are motivational posters inside the box, pamphlets about Find Your Anchor, and you can personalize it by adding heartfelt notes or drawings to the boxes,” said Pond. 

Morris Ave staff and e-board invited all Kean Students interested in getting together and building anchor boxes with them in hopes of bringing students together and bonding over a good cause. 

“We plan to have a scavenger hunt for students who need the encouragement of the Anchor boxes and invite all students to follow our social media platforms, where locations on campus will be revealed,” said Evans. 

 “Education is awareness. As we educate ourselves regarding depression, suicide, and mental health overall, we can create a stronger campus community,” added Pond, as a final message to Kean’s community to help save a life. 
For more information regarding the organization, its mission, and its resources you can contact them directly on its website.  

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