Kate Spade New York Donates $1 Million to Suicide Prevention Following Founder's Death
Two weeks after the death of its co-founder, Kate Spade, the brand Kate Spade New York announced that it will be donating $1 million to suicide prevention groups.
“Mental illness does not discriminate; it is complicated and difficult to diagnose and can often be life-threatening,” Anna Bakst, CEO of Kate Spade New York, said in a statement. “We hope that our support will shed even more light on the disease and encourage those who suffer from mental health issues to seek help. Collectively, we must all do more.”
Kate Spade was found dead by suicide in her N.Y.C. apartment on June 5. Her husband and business partner, Andy Spade, revealed on the day of her death that she was in treatment for depression and anxiety.
“Kate suffered from depression and anxiety for many years. She was actively seeking help and working closely with her doctors to treat her disease, one that takes far too many lives. We were in touch with her the night before and she sounded happy,” Andy, 56, said in a statement.
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The brand is donating $250,000 to the Crisis Text Line, and will match up to $100,000 in public donations to the Crisis Text Line between June 20 and June 29. To donate, visit CrisisTextLine.org/KateSpadeNY.
A post shared by kate spade new york (@katespadeny) on Jun 20, 2018 at 6:01am PDT
The brand also honored its late founder through storefront window displays a day after her death. Each store removed all signage and product from their windows and replace it with a poster of the company’s statement following her death, which was posted on Instagram.
A post shared by kate spade new york (@katespadeny) on Jun 5, 2018 at 11:00am PDT
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Kate’s funeral is scheduled for June 21 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Redemptorist Church in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. In lieu of flowers, her family is asking for donations to be made to animal rescue groups.
“In lieu of flowers, kindly direct donations to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) or to Wayside Waifs, Kansas City’s largest no-kill animal shelter and pet adoption campus,” reads the obituary.
