The Beacon for Hope Suicide Prevention organization will hold an Unmasking Suicide Masquerade Ball to supporting those affected by suicide by raising funds through attendance fees and a silent auction. The ball will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 20 in Clint Bowyer Building.

The cost to attend will be $30 for a single person and $50 for a couple. The funds will funds raised will pay for community members to go to formal suicide prevention training. “We have a bunch of items that people donated to us, and we will start out the price,” Melissa Kurtenbach, executive director of Beacon for Hope.

“It’s a silent auction so people will go and write on their name and bet on the item…Instead of yelling out, it is a silent one, so it will not interrupt our festivities.”

For the masquerade ball, people do not have to dress up, but they will need to bring a mask to symbolically take off at 8p.m., according to Kurtenbach. “We will have a DJ and we dance,” Kurtenbach said. “Casa Ramos is catering for some Mexican food…and some non-Mexican food too. We’ll have dessert.”

DJ Will Rapp, from Wichita, will play pop music for people to dance and will take requests. Casa Ramos, 707 Commerciaal St., will cater food as a buffet, which is paid for out of the ticket price, according to Kurtenbach.

There will also be a “step and repeat,” which is taking a photo on the red carpet with the logo behind, and the Beacon for Hope will post those pictures on their Facebook page.

Beacon for Hope is a suicide prevention non-profit community founded by Kurtenbach in 2017, and it is as a tribute to the memory of her sister lost to suicide in 2006, according to hopelinks.org

“We wanted to identified something unique that Emporia hasn’t held it before, and we think a masquerade ball would be fun,” said Kurtenbach “It’s just to have a different event, so people can come to support, for hope and for community.”

The Unmasking Suicide Masquerade Ball is unique and new for Emporia, said Mike McRell, the manager of the ESU bookstore. “I think it’s something new for the campus, and something new for the town. I think anytime you bring something new to it (Emporia), it’s add something to the town and university,” McRell said. “It (unmasking suicide ball) is get the awareness to suicide prevention, and it does it in a different way.”

The Unmasking Suicide Masquerade Ball is the last event for the Beacon for Hope in this year. The next event will be an art event in March.