Yakima donors pay for lights to honor WSU QB Hilinski, raise suicide prevention awareness

YAKIMA – The exterior lights on the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima were changed Saturday to crimson and gray to raise awareness for suicide prevention and to honor Washington State University quarterback Tyler Hilinski, who died earlier this month from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A couple who wish to remain anonymous made a donation to the Downtown Association of Yakima to cover the cost of changing the lights.

“As Cougar alumni, we want to bring awareness to this issue,” the anonymous donors said in a news release. “Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among college students, and yet it’s still a topic people don’t talk about. We hope this small action gets our community to continue the conversation.”

A group of WSU parents has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for the Hilinski family.

A funeral service for Hilinski took place at Damien High School in La Verne, California, at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The funeral was open to the public. The majority of WSU’s football players, coaches and staff, as well as student-athletes from a number of other WSU athletic teams, traveled to Southern California for Hilinski’s funeral. WSU chartered a plane to provide transportation.