Plea for Peace hits Portland with a cause

Plea for Peace Take Action Tour 2002

Crystal Ballroom

Does the name Kristin Brooks sound familiar? No, she doesn’t write for the Oregonian, nor is she the new VJ on MTV. And in case you were wondering, she’s not in the Thomason’s Auto Group “Greatest Car Commercials of All Time.” However, her influence in today’s society cannot go unnoticed. Four years ago, the 28-year-old Brooks made a decision that would influence thousands for years to come.

On April 7, 1998, Kristin Brooks hanged herself. Her husband, H. Reese Butler II, would never be the same.

“I have been devastated by the loss of Kristin. There are many times where I wish she were alive, even if that meant my being dead. Depression is a horrible disease that some get chemically or genetically. Suicide is preventable and depression is treatable.”

In 1998, Butler founded the Kristin Brooks Hope Center and the National Hopeline Network (1-800-SUICIDE). When he focused on the prevention of suicide, he helped launch several other organizations: The National Council for Suicide Prevention, The California Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network and the Virginia Suicide Prevention Council. Due to Reese’s vision and the National Hopeline Network’s use of cutting-edge telephony technology, the Kristin Brooks Hope Center became a recipient of the prestigious 2002 A Search for New Heroes Award, the Computerworld Honors Program’s online archive of information technology innovation.

Is this how Butler is choosing to deal with the death of his wife? He admits, “The work I do is my reason for living, and it has sustained me through the hardest period of my life.”

Ever wonder what’s the third leading cause of death among 15- 24-year-olds? Or what’s the second leading cause of death among college-age youth? Suicide. Asian Man Records owner Mike Park and Sub City Records owner Louis Posen found these statistics so startling they combined forces and created the Plea for Peace Benefit Concert for Suicide Prevention.

Celebrating their second year, the Plea for Peace Take Action Tour 2002 lands in Portland on Sunday, Oct. 6 at the Crystal Ballroom. The Hopeline will receive 10 percent of the tour’s gross door receipts as a donation.

The headliners for this nationwide tour include The Promise Ring, Poison The Well, Common Rider and Lawrence Arms. Last year’s tour raised $50,000 through CD royalties, concert proceeds and donations for The National Hopeline Network.

“This year’s 10 percent will actually be greater, as last year it was based on profits” Butler said. “This year it’s gross. We expect the amount to climb to $100,000.”

Sub City Records owner Posen says, “It’s one thing to purchase music by a band you like, but it’s another to purchase a record and know that there is a bigger idea at work behind its release. Luckily, because of the nature of the age of the fans, they have open minds. They aren’t set in the ways yet … they are more likely to have the motivation and time to take action.”

Tickets for this all ages show are $15 in advance available through Ticketmaster. For more information, log on to www.takeaactiontour.com.

Just think, for the cost of an evening’s worth of entertainment and a CD, you could help save a life.