January 22, 2024 - Two representatives from Teen Lifeline, Luis Barcelo, and Nikki Kuntz, gave us an excellent presentation About Teen Lifeline. The organization began in 1985 to try and address the teen suicide problem in Arizona which had the second highest suicide rate in the country. Teen Lifeline trains teenagers to answer calls from troubled teenagers - last year there were 44,000 calls. Using peers to help has been a very successful approach. Callers are helped in any number of crises, not just suicide. Teen volunteers receive 80 to 100 hours of training and answer calls from 3 to 9 pm, 365 days of the year. Teen volunteers work 15 hours per month and stay with the organization for over 3 years on average. They receive no state funding and thus depend on organizations and individual donors for support. Their budget is $1.6M Our club gave them $1000.Their presentation was very well received an generated a multitude of questions.