Sometimes the most important step we take is the one we take beside someone else.
Around Keuka Lake, we talk a lot about community.
We celebrate our small towns. We tell the stories of the people who built them. We gather for festivals and parades, concerts and celebrations. We show up when a neighbor needs a hand.
But community is perhaps most important during the moments that are harder to talk about.
The moments of grief.
The moments of struggle.
The moments when someone needs to know that they are not walking alone.
On
Sunday, October 4, 2026, people from across our region will gather once again for the
Out of the Darkness Keuka Lake Walk at
Keuka Lake State Park.
Some will walk in memory of someone they love.
Some will walk in support of a family member or friend.
Some will walk because suicide and mental health struggles have touched their own lives.
And some will simply walk because they believe that hope matters—and that showing up for one another matters.
Whatever brings them there, for a few hours they will walk together.
And that is really what this day is about.
A Keuka Tradition That Began in 2017
The
Keuka Lake Out of the Darkness Walk
has developed its own local history.
The first walk in our area was held in
2017, when participants walked through the streets of Penn Yan.
In 2018, the event moved to portions of the
Keuka Lake Outlet Trail, where walkers continued gathering for several years.
Eventually, the walk found another home at
Keuka Lake State Park, surrounded by the familiar landscape of the lake and hills that connect so many of our communities.
For the past two years, the event was held at
Keuka College while the State Park pavilion underwent renovations.
This October, the walk comes home again.
Back to Keuka Lake State Park.
There is something especially fitting about that return.
Because while the location has changed through the years, the reason people gather has remained the same:
To remember.
To support.
To raise awareness.
To help prevent suicide.
And to bring hope out of the darkness.
What Does “Out of the Darkness” Mean?
The name itself carries an important message.
Mental health struggles and suicide loss can be incredibly isolating. Grief can make people feel as though nobody else could possibly understand what they are carrying.
The Out of the Darkness Walks were created to bring those experiences into a place of connection and support.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention describes the walks as opportunities for people affected by suicide to come together, find others who understand and raise funds to support suicide prevention.
Across the country, friends, families, coworkers and neighbors walk side by side—some remembering someone they have lost, some supporting someone who is struggling and some sharing their own lived experience.
There doesn't have to be one reason to walk.
There only has to be a willingness to take the next step.
More Than a Walk
When people arrive at an Out of the Darkness Walk, they quickly discover that this isn't simply about walking a route.
It is about
connection.
It is about creating a space where conversations that are often difficult to begin can finally happen.
It is about remembering people whose lives mattered.
It is about standing beside families who continue to carry their loss.
And it is about reminding people who may be struggling themselves that there are people willing to listen, resources available to help and an entire community willing to walk beside them.
Funds raised through Out of the Darkness Walks help support the work of the
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, including suicide-prevention research, educational programs, advocacy, and programs supporting people who have experienced suicide loss.
Every registration shared.
Every fundraising team created.
Every donation made.
Every conversation started.
And every person who shows up helps move that work forward.
The Beads That Tell a Story
One of the most meaningful traditions of an Out of the Darkness Walk can be seen around the necks of the people walking.
They are called
Honor Beads.
The different colors represent the many personal connections people have to suicide prevention and suicide loss.
Without saying a word, those beads can tell another walker:
I understand.
I've been there.
I'm remembering someone, too.
I'm supporting someone.
This is part of my story.
And sometimes, seeing someone else wearing the same color is enough to begin a conversation.
That may seem like a small thing.
But when someone has felt alone in grief or in their own struggle, discovering another person who understands can be anything but small.
Walking for the Ones We Carry With Us
Perhaps one of the most powerful things about the Keuka Lake walk is that every person arriving at the park brings a different story.
There are names carried quietly in hearts.
There are photographs.
There are memories of sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, spouses, grandparents, friends, coworkers and neighbors.
There are people who wish they could have one more conversation.
One more hug.
One more ordinary Tuesday afternoon.
And there are people walking because they want another person who is struggling today to have all of those tomorrows.
That is where remembrance and prevention meet.
We cannot rewrite the stories that have already ended.
But we can speak their names.
We can tell their stories.
We can support the people who loved them.
We can learn.
We can listen.
And perhaps we can help someone else's story continue.
Keuka Shows Up
There is something our little communities around Keuka have always understood:
When one of us needs help, we show up.
Sometimes that means bringing a casserole to a neighbor.
Sometimes it means holding a fundraiser.
Sometimes it means sitting quietly beside someone who is grieving because there simply aren't words big enough for what has happened.
And sometimes it means putting on a pair of sneakers and walking beside people we know—and people we've never met.
The Out of the Darkness Keuka Lake Walk is one of those days.
You don't need to have the perfect words.
You don't need to know exactly what to say.
You don't even need to personally know someone who has died by suicide.
You can simply come.
Listen.
Learn.
Support.
Remember.
And walk.
The 2026 Keuka Lake Walk
The
2026 Out of the Darkness Keuka Lake Walk will take place:
Sunday, October 4, 2026
Keuka Lake State Park
Check-In: 11:00 AM
Event Begins: 1:00 PM
The walk is noncompetitive, and organizers describe Out of the Darkness walks as approximately one to three miles. The day will also include an opening ceremony, activities centered on hope and healing, resource tables and complimentary Honor Beads for participants.
Registration is free, and everyone is welcome.
There is still time to
register as an individual, create or join a team, raise funds, volunteer or make a donation.
Register or Donate
Visit the official
Keuka Lake Out of the Darkness Walk page:
afspwalks.donordrive.com/events/11562
One Step Can Say a Lot
Maybe you walk for someone whose name you still say every day.
Maybe you walk for someone whose struggle nobody else knows.
Maybe you walk for yourself.
Maybe you walk because you want your children and grandchildren to grow up in a world where asking for help isn't something to hide.
Or maybe you walk because you believe no one in our community should ever feel that they have to face their darkest moment alone.
Whatever your reason, October 4 is an opportunity to stand together beside Keuka Lake and send a message that reaches far beyond the State Park:
You matter.
Your story matters.
There is help.
There is hope.
And there are people willing to walk beside you until the darkness begins to lift.
Around Keuka, that's what community is supposed to mean.
One lake. Many stories. Thousands of steps. One shared hope.
Stay Rooted. Stay Keuka.™
If You or Someone You Know Needs Help
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health or suicide crisis,
call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
You can also text
HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained volunteer Crisis Counselor through the Crisis Text Line.
Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
