AKRON, OH, 11/17/11 – National recording artist Divine Soldiers, in conjunction with the Suicide Prevention Education Alliance, have united to prevent suicide and promote the recognition of adolescent depression through education and alliances with community partners.

Divine Soldiers are scheduled to release their fourth album in early 2012 and will donate a portion of their album sales to help the SPEA organization.

Divine Soldiers are currently raising support for this cause on IndieGoGO.com (www.indiegogo.com/Divine-Soldiers). Supporters will receive exclusive rewards for their charitable donations.

On 06/06/2011, Jason Wallace (Manager and Founder of Divine Soldiers) lost his niece Alexandra Grace Colin to suicide. Alex was only 17 years old and was scheduled to graduate from high school with honors one week before she ended her life. Alexandra suffered from severe depression and was receiving treatment and support from her family. Unfortunately, she still ended her life. Jason knows what it is like to suffer from depression. He too has been diagnosed with depression and receives treatment for it.

This tragic event has inspired Divine Soldiers to use their platform to share Alex's story and help teens who may be suffering from a mental illness or depression by encouraging them to seek treatment and to connect them with organizations that can assist them. They believe that suicide is preventable and its causes are often very treatable. Divine Soldiers hope to bring more awareness to a subject that is often not discussed and work with SPEA and other organizations to help prevent suicides, which is the third leading cause of deaths for young people ages 15 to 24.

ABOUT DIVINE SOLDIERS

Divine Soldiers was established in 1998 by brothers Jason and Brandon Wallace. They have released three full length albums and have performed with popular artists such as Toby Mac, Third Day, Michael W. Smith, Family Force 5, and many more. Divine Soldiers is a hip hop band with additional members Anthony Wallace, Lia Wallace, AJ Hale, and Aaron Rae. For more information about Divine Soldiers, please visit www.divinesoldiers.com.

ABOUT SPEA (SUICIDE PREVENTION EDUCATION ALLIANCE)

Since December 2000 SPEA has delivered its proven program, Recognizing Teen Depression and Preventing Suicide, to 82,000 students in 108 Northeast Ohio high schools. Students learn how to identify depression in themselves or their friends; to recognize the warning signs of suicide; and how to get help. Their objective is to cause at-risk students to seek and receive treatment from a mental health professional. Evidence-based research proves their program's success. SPEA's program saves teen lives and helps young people to live healthy, productive lives.

In addition, SPEA has trained more than 5,000 physicians, school counselors, social workers, nurses, clergy, teachers, home health aides, law enforcement officers and parents in recognizing adolescent depression and suicide prevention. For more information SPEA, please visit www.speaneohio.org.