Blue Agave Restaurant and Tequila Bar, 1050 N. State St., is holding a benefit on Wednesday, June 22, from 6 to 9 p.m. Admission is $40 per person and will include a sumptuous fajita bar and two drinks, with the proceeds all going to benefit the Chicago Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Proudly displayed above the bar area at Blue Agave is an American flag hanging in a frame. The flag was given to Blue Agave's owner/host Mario Gonzalez by Gold Coast resident Jake Warner, who along with his sister, Lynn, and brother-in-law, Jim Miller, became regular customers of the restaurant ever since it opened in 1992. Jake was serving his country as an MP with his Army reserve unit for six months in the war zone. He returned to Chicago in January, 2004. It was then that Jake Warner presented the flag that he brought back with him from Bagram, Afghanistan, to his friend and buddy, Mario Gonzalez. Six months later, in June, 2004, Jake Warner committed suicide.
This benefit, organized by Jake's sister, Lynn Miller, will be a celebration of Jake's short life and a rededication of the flag, one year later. Lynn hopes the benefit will bring awareness of the suicidal tendencies of some of our returning troops, and thus reach out in support to surviving family and friends. Besides Lynn, Jake's survivors include another sister, brother, and mother and father.
The Chicago Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicidal Prevention is also sponsoring a 20-mile overnight walkathon on Saturday, July 16, starting and ending at Soldier Field, and continuing through the night to emphasize the need of people to come out of the darkness to recognize suicidal symptoms.
For more information, call Lynn Miller at (312) 961-6071. |
