About Foundation – Run for Jeev

Mission Statement

Support and promote ongoing efforts for suicide prevention and mental health awareness in young adults in the community, by raising funds and volunteering.

Vision

To bring Mental Health awareness in Young Adults. To start the conversation that mental health is not a stigma and make people aware that they are not alone in this journey. To spread the word that there is no problem that cannot be solved and no thought that cannot be shared. Together we can prevent suicides in young adults.

From the family of Sanjeev Panja

Our dear son Sanjeev Panja lost his life to suicide at the very tender age of 20. Sanjeev was caring, loving, funny, goofy, and an extremely motivated kid. He was always laughing and making others laugh.

Sanjeev will forever be remembered for his radiant smile, his infectious laughter and his unique sense of humor. To us and to the world he was a bundle of endless energy, extremely motivated and full of life. To him his world was his family and friends. He seemed to have the perfect balance in life. He always kept up with studies, loved sports, and loved having lots of fun with friends.

We consider ourselves a very “normal” family. Our home environment was warm and friendly and never dysfunctional. We did not see any signs in Sanjeev. He always seemed cheerful and happy and always kept in touch with us. On the February 12th, 2022, our lives changed forever. We got this life changing news we could never have imagined. It completely shattered our lives.

We had always openly communicated with Sanjeev on all aspects of life, but it never occurred to us to ask him about his mental wellness. It never dawned on us to start a conversation with him about mental health.

He was to us and his friends the last person we could imagine who would take his own life. He was always happy, always smiling and always making people laugh. We were and still remain clueless.

We thought we were giving him balanced life, catering to all his needs along with parenting responsibly. But we were wrong.

The pain and grief we are going through is unimaginable and no parent should have to go through what we are going through. If it can happen to our family, it can happen to any other family – and we want to try and prevent that through this foundation.

Our Gallery

Awareness about Mental Illness in Young Adults

Mental Health Statistics

1 in 3 (30.6%) young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 experienced a mental, behavioral, or emotional health issue in the past year (SAMHSA, 2021).
9% of teens ages 12-17 have one or more mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral problems (NSCH, 2019).
7% of high school students reported feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the past year. This percentage is higher for females (46.6%), Hispanic students (40.0%), and lesbian, gay or bisexual students (66.3%) (CDC, 2020).
Among college students, 29.1% have been diagnosed with anxiety and 23.6% have been diagnosed with depression (NCHA, 2021).

Suicide Rates

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for teens and young adults, ages 10-34 (CDC, 2022).
5% of adults ages 18-24 reported having seriously considered suicide in the past month. This is a higher percentage than any other adult age group (CDC, 2020).
8% of high school students reported having seriously considered suicide in the past year. This percentage is higher among females (24.1%), and lesbian, gay, or bisexual teens (46.8%) (CDC, 2020).
9% of high school students attempted suicide in the past year. This percentage is highest among females (11.0%), black teens (11.8%), and lesbian, gay, or bisexual teens (23.4%) (CDC, 2020).