Ben Morrison Memorial Fund

Ben Morrison lost his life to suicide.  
He was 19.  

He did not struggle in obvious ways.  
He was an athlete with friends, future plans and a supportive family and community.  

Ben’s life story was unfinished.  

The Ben Morrison Fund is dedicated to completing Ben’s story by helping those who struggle, even for a critical moment, to find a path forward.
Every life is precious. No one should lose a life, or loved one to suicide.

We are committed to shining a light of hope to banish the stigma of mental illness, 
advocating for and being an ally to all who struggle.

Everyone needs to feel seen, important, and encouraged to continue living their story.

Since its inception in 2021, The Ben Morrison Fund is proud to have:

• Invested over $30,000 in our community through outreach programs, scholarships and donations relevant to mental health wellness and advocacy.  
• Our Ben’s Way initiative, within 1 year in 8 schools in 6 districts, reinforcing positivity, building hope, and helping young people feel seen and valued.
  • The Ben's Way program is designed to seek, recognize and reward unselfishness, resilience, hard work, advocacy, leadership and encouragement in small actions of students in school.  
  • So far the program has recognized over 38 students who may not be athletes, high-achieving scholars, performers or otherwise feel recognized in their everyday lives.
• We have sponsored over 30 Ben’s TEAMS awareness events, impacting 52,000+
• We have given 33 scholarships, intended to foster hope & encouragement, equal to $27,500 in 4 years.
• Over 1390+ students and 300 teachers and staff have been impacted by our work along with our our alliances with with Hope Squad, My Fave 5, and the 988 Initiative.

We have more work to do.  

A silent war for mental wellness, and sometimes their life, is being waged by today's youth.

According to the CDC, Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in the 10-14 and 20-34 age range.

According to the most recent Youth Risk Behaviors Survey, 10.0% of US youth in grades 9-12 reported that they had made at least one suicide attempt in the past 12 months… Approximately 3% of all students reported making a suicide attempt that required treatment by a doctor or nurse. 
* Source: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Most Recent Survey, 2021 

The suicide mortality rate has been steadily increasing globally, with a notable spike in 2022. The most recent update indicates a continued upward trend. * Source: World Health Organization (WHO)’s most recent update (1/8/24) per 100k population.

12.3 million have suicidal thoughts, 3.5 million have a plan, 1.7 million have attempted.  There are 132 deaths by suicide every day.  That's one death every 11 minutes. * Source: Center for Disease Control

The Ben Morrison Fund, Cincinnati’s school-age mental health wellness advocate believes it is critically important that we stand beside those in crisis and help them find a way forward. 

We do this by allying ourselves with and supporting crisis solutions, by fostering hope through our scholarship program, reaching our youth where they are through our Ben’s Teams Program, and through our newest initiative, Ben’s Way, our rapidly growing school kindness initiative an everyday effort to give young people validation.  

Please become an ally and donate today.