Every 40 seconds someone dies by suicide. That’s close to 800,000 lives lost every year, according to the World Health Organization. The Promise2Live campaign’s mission is to prevent these deaths and give those who are struggling or their families the resources they need.

“We’re asking everyone, whether or not you struggle to promise to live,” said Brandy Vega, who started Promise2Live. “Promise to reach out to a friend or people you trust. People who make this promise are 60% more likely to keep it when it counts.”

The odds of getting through a crisis are greater if they promise the people they love that they’ll get help, she said. “There’s a small window to get help when someone is in a dark place.”

About a year and a half ago, the organization started giving out “pocket hugs.” “They’re like a coin,” said Vega. “The inscription reads: ‘When times get tough and you don’t know what to do, here's a hug from me to you.’ It’s a coin to keep and one to give to someone else to let them know they matter.”

Vega founded Promise2Live after her 12-year-old attempted suicide and then again two years later. “I knew the signs but that didn’t help,” she said. “There are great resources. Most people don’t know they exist. I didn’t know until my child’s second attempt to end their life.”

At one of their events, Vega said a woman approached her to share her experience with the pocket hugs. “She said she had gotten the coin a year ago and immediately gave it to her husband who was a vet. ‘He put that coin in his pocket and carried it every day. He made the promise. But then one day he said he was done with it, that he was done. I worried all night and early the next morning my husband was standing there. He said he was here because of the promise he made and the coin.’”

James McQuivey knows the pain of losing a child to suicide. “We lost our son on June 7 (2025),” he said. “He graduated a little early from high school and went to BYU Hawaii in January. He wanted to move onto the next stage.” He was 18.

Lachlan didn’t have a single friend there, said McQuivey. “My wife visited in April and was surprised to see that he had 100 friends. It was great to see all of his friends. He’s struggled with mental illness and in May he called to say he was having trouble.”

McQuivey said when the school called to deliver the news they said they wanted to respect their privacy but they should announce it to the school. “I thought it was better to talk about it. It’s hard and it hurts but it gives them the opportunity to love each other and support each other. After that several students came forward saying they were struggling too but felt like they had no support. That’s Promise2Live’s message.”

His friends loved him, said McQuivey. “When we lost him the students were as devastated as we were. We keep getting loving messages. We met with dozens of his friends and asked for memories and it started with tears but ended in laughter. Lachlan was a very, very funny guy.”

A few students asked if they could share a traditional Hawaiian song, he said. “They said they’d been working on a song for Lachlan. I thought it would be a beautiful treat.”

The group of about six to eight students got together and let him listen to the song. “It blew me away,” said McQuivey. “The lyrics were so touching. It was obvious that these friends of his loved him.”

McQuivey had some experience in releasing songs and encouraged them to put the song on Spotify. “(One of the guys), Charlie, was lead on the song,” he said. “We didn’t know him as well but I told him that ‘God put you here with these talents at this moment.’”

The organization is hosting its fourth annual Promise2Live Hollywood event on World Suicide Prevention Day, Sept. 10, featuring celebrity appearances, speakers and performances. People can attend in person or online.

“Rob Riggle is coming and Allison Holker whose husband tWitch (Stephan Boss) died by suicide is receiving the resilience award and Alex Boye is one of the speakers and the BYU Hawaii group will perform their song.”

 Promise2Live is also hosting a comedy night Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. in American Fork. Visit promise2live.org for information about both events. 

“We need to work hard to get the message out,” said McQuivey. “I’d rather no one else had to go through this. We need to shine more light on it.”