Kate Spade Foundation to donate $1M for suicide prevention

NEW YORK – Kate Spade New York has announced plans to donate $1 million to support suicide prevention and mental health awareness causes in tribute to the company’s late founder.

To start, the company said Wednesday the Kate Spade New York Foundation is giving $250,000 to the Crisis Text Line , a free, 24-hour confidential text message service for people in crisis.

The company also said it will match public donations made to the service from June 20 through June 29, up to an amount of $100,000.

Kate Spade New York also says it will host a Global Mental Health Awareness Day for employees as part of its Wellness Program.

The 55-year-old fashion designer was found dead by suicide June 5. Her husband says she had depression and anxiety for many years.

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This story has been corrected to show that Spade was found dead June 5, not last month.