Our Mission

The 18 A Day Foundation is a Michigan-based nonprofit organization with a single, urgent mission: to reduce youth suicide in the United States to zero. The name reflects the heartbreaking reality we exist to confront — on average, 18 K-12 students die by suicide every single day in this country. Behind that statistic are eighteen families, eighteen classrooms, and eighteen communities forever changed. We believe this number is unconscionable, and we believe it is preventable.

Why We Exist

The Foundation was established by a coalition of community leaders, educators, and law enforcement professionals who have witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of student suicide on families and schools. Too often, the warning signs are invisible until it is too late — not because they were not there, but because students lacked a safe, trusted way to reach out, and the adults around them lacked the tools to respond. We exist to close that gap. Silence and stigma have cost too many young lives, and we refuse to accept either as permanent fixtures of the conversation around youth mental health.

Our Approach

The 18 A Day Foundation works across three connected areas:

• Awareness — National and community campaigns, including initiatives timed to Suicide Prevention Month each September, billboards, yard signs, classroom resources, and public events that make visible what is too often hidden.
• Action — Promoting and supporting tools such as Relay12, a confidential student reporting system that gives students a direct, trusted channel to ask for help and connects them with adults equipped to respond.
• Advocacy — Partnering with schools, community foundations, and legislators to secure sustained funding, sensible policy, and system-wide accountability so that prevention efforts outlast any single campaign.

Already, schools across Michigan have expressed interest in joining upcoming campaigns, with electronic billboards, classroom materials, and community-driven programs being readied ahead of National Suicide Prevention Month. Our work depends on partnership — parents, educators, faith leaders, civic organizations, and donors all have a role in turning awareness into life-saving action.

Who We Are

The Foundation was founded by Clay Frey, who, alongside a board of community members, drives the organization's work from Kalamazoo, Michigan. We are a registered nonprofit organization committed to operating transparently and using every resource entrusted to us to advance our mission.

• Organization Name: 18 A DAY
• EIN: 39-3922648
• Address: 3804 Greenleaf Circle, Kalamazoo, MI 49008
• Phone: (269) 352-5211
• Email: info@18aday.org

If you'd like to support our work, partner with us, or bring 18 A Day programs to your school or community, please reach out. Every conversation moves us closer to a day when no family receives the call no parent should ever receive.