Matt's Heroes
In 2014, the Foundation initiated the Matt's Heroes Award to acknowledge those who have joined us in our cause and deserve special recognition for going above and beyond with their efforts.
At the 2015 Light Up the Night event we honored Melissa and the late Joan Rivers. After the tragic loss of Joan's Husband and Melissa’s father Edgar in 1987, have turned their grief into dedication for Suicide Awareness and Prevention.
At the 2015 Matthew Silverman Memorial Golf Classic, we honored Active Minds Founder Alison Malmon. After losing her older brother Brian to suicide in 2000, Mrs. Malmon dedicated her life to mental health advocacy. In ten years, her non-profit organization has grown into a well recognized entity in the field, led by a committed team of full time staff members under Alison's direction, as well as a Board of Directors, National Advisory Committee and Student Advisory Committee. Featured on CNN, in The New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, and much more, Active Minds has become the voice of young adult mental health advocacy nationwide. With more than 400 campus chapters, hundreds of thousands of young adults all across the country are benefiting from the Active Minds model.
At the 2015 Matthew Silverman Memorial Golf Classic, we honored Sergeant Kevin Briggs (also known as the Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge), a California Highway Patrol officer who has stopped upwards of two hundred people from jumping off of the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay. Recently, Briggs announced that he would be retiring from the California Highway Patrol and focus his efforts on suicide prevention.
At our Light Up the Night 2014 event, we honored Katie Cleary-Stern, who after the tragic loss of her husband Andrew in June 2014, has turned her grief into dedication for raising money for suicide awareness and prevention.
At the 2014 Matthew Silverman Memorial Golf Tournament on April 21, we were delighted to to announce the first two recipients of this award, Ms. Greta Melendez and Mrs. Julia Boyle. Thank you to Greta and Julia for all that you've done!