After a rainy weekend, more than 500 volunteers walking for suicide awareness and prevention were greeted with warm and sunny weather.

The event, the first Out of the Darkness Community Walk, started yesterday at 1 p.m. at the Intramural Building.

Pat Gainey, Philadelphia regional director for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said the turnout for the 5K walk exceeded expectations.

Gainey said as of Friday, 367 volunteers were registered online for the walk, and more than 200 volunteers registered as walk-ins yesterday. Numbers were so high, she said, that they ran out of registration forms and T-shirts for the walkers.

"Yesterday was dark; today, it's light, and that's because of you," Maryanne Neal, a registered nurse and clinical director for Centre Volunteers in Medicine, said to the crowd of volunteers.

Amy Leber, a volunteer helping with registration for the walk, said walk-ins were sporadic when registration began at noon, but more people started arriving and signing up as the day went on.

The walk began at the corner of Curtain Road and University Drive, continuing around campus.

Co-chairwomen Susan Kennedy, associate director for education service at University Health Services, and Neal thanked all the volunteers for their participation. Kennedy and Neal -- who have each been affected by the suicide of a loved one -- also participated in the walk.

According to event's Web site, outofthedarkness.org, the amount raised as of last night was $18,100. Donations are being accepted until April 24, and the final amount raised will be announced April 25.

Julie Seiler (sophomore-elementary education) was the first to complete the walk. Seiler, a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, said she and her friends thought it would be a great event to participate in.

"[Suicide] is definitely something out there that people don't know enough about," Seiler said. "I think having this [walk] at Penn State with so many people is really good."

Leber, who is required to participate in volunteer health-related activities for a class, said she thought the walk was able to increase awareness.

"I think it's an important issue that's not really talked about that much, it is in the darkness quite a bit," she said. "I think it's a good opportunity to bring awareness around the community."

Bindu Methikalam, (graduate-counseling psychology) and Ellie Olson, a pre-doctorate intern at Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at Penn State, were working at the Comfort Station.

The station provided information about suicide as well as resources from CAPS and the surrounding community for treating depression, mental illnesses and suicide issues, Methikalam said.

The Comfort Station also provided volunteers with personal support regarding suicide and mental health issues, Olson said. Methikalam and Olson had seen only a few people since the event began but expected to see more after the walk was completed.

As volunteers finished the walk, they were greeted with cheering and clapping.

"People seem to be excited to be here, and given that it's the first time that they've done this here in State College, it seems like it's a good starting-off point," Olsen said. "If this is as many people as they had the first time, I am excited to see how it will do in future years."