9th Annual P.S. I Love You Day

On Feb. 1, 2019, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo officially declared Feb. 8, 2019 as P.S. I Love You Day in the State of New York.

Marist College Alumna Brooke DiPalma ‘18 founded P.S. I Love You Day in 2011, following the loss of her father, Joseph DiPalma, to suicide in April 2010. This year will be the celebration of the 9th annual P.S. I Love You Day.

DiPalma started this event at her high school in West Islip, N.Y. after she was overwhelmed by support from her high school classmates. This year there are 118 schools, in all academic levels from middle school to university, celebrating P.S. I Love You Day.

According to their website, psiloveyouday.net, their mission statement is “to spread love in order to decrease bullying and promote mental health awareness. We strongly believe that by educating students earlier about mental health, this difficult conversation will be easier to discuss. On the second Friday of every February, we encourage communities to wear purple in order to foster kindness and a welcoming environment.”

This day, nor the organization, requires donations, but if there are donations, 50 percent goes back into the donating community’s event for the following year and 25 percent goes to P.S. I Love You Day Inc., so that each year the organization has the ability to continue expanding, educating people, and making resources available to those in need. Finally, the remaining 25 percent of donations go directly to the donating community's local Suicide Prevention organization.

 For more information, their website is psiloveyouday.net. Remember you are never alone and there are support and resources available. Be sure to wear purple on Feb. 8 to show support.