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The Hilinski's Hope Foundation announced plans Tuesday to engage programs across the country to use the games of Saturday, Oct. 3, to kick off College Football Mental Health Awareness Week. Seven SEC universities already have agreed to participate in "3DAY" with a goal to increase resources devoted to mental fitness, decrease stigma and honor the victims of mental illness, such as Tyler Hilinski, the Washington State quarterback who wore No. 3 and died by suicide in January 2018. Tyler's parents, Mark and Kym Hilinski, created Hilinski's Hope after Tyler's death. Among the seven SEC programs that will participate is South Carolina, where the starting quarterback, sophomore Ryan Hilinski, is Tyler's younger brother. Programs that participate in 3DAY will be asked to wear helmet stickers that have a lime green ribbon with the No. 3 in the middle, and/or have fans in the stadium raise three fingers at the beginning of the third quarter. During the following week, the campuses are being asked to conduct programs to measure and raise awareness of mental fitness resources for students and faculty. The week will be held in conjunction with World Mental Illness Awareness Week (Oct. 4-10). "Tyler was this bright shining light and had so many looking up to him -- his teammates, family, friends, future athletes," Mark Hilinski said, "and we hope that schools around the country will consider joining us in our fight against the darkness that surrounds mental illness and increasing resources and conversations on campus." The other programs that have committed to 3DAY include Arkansas, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
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