SUBLETTE COUNTY — Seniors from Big Piney High School, Pinedale High School and Skyline Academy, plus those who are home-schooled, converged on the Cowboy Shop in downtown Pinedale throughout October to select pairs of boots that were then purchased for them by the Jae Foundation. More than 100 pairs of boots shared with the students were accompanied by critical conversations that likely would have never happened outside of the dedicated “boot check moment.”

The founders of the Jae Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, launched the organization to create boot check moments. They have a simple mission: take an hour or so to slow down, share their friend Jae’s story, buy someone a pair of cowboy boots and check in to see how that person is actually doing.

Jae Boots are more than just another pair of cowboy boots. The shoes serve as a grounding reminder to be bold enough to have conversations around mental health and suicide awareness and prevention, to have the courage to ask for help when needed and to check in with others.

Growing up in Pinedale, Jae Bing was an avid outdoorsman who loved to fish and spend time with friends and family. The foundation was created in the wake of Bing’s 2016 suicide as friends and family sought to bring something good out of the tragedy.

Surrounded by saddles and other tack in a back room of the Cowboy Shop on Pine Street, Julie Mackey, the Wyoming outreach coordinator for the Jae Foundation, shared Jae’s story with the high school seniors. The students gathered around her, each sporting a brand-new pair of cowboy boots. Mackey explained a boot check moment can even consist of a heartfelt phone call. Following the emotional presentations, Mackey told the students that their new boots come with two requests that they must fulfill. The first is that seniors must “reach out to someone who is on your heart today; do it today because sometimes tomorrow is too late.”

The second is that the students must commit to reaching out for help when they need it. “You’re here for a reason and for a purpose,” Mackey reaffirmed to the high school seniors.

To date, the Jae Foundation has given more than 8,000 pairs of boots to folks nationwide.

Speaking to the students, Mackey said, “I guarantee you someone in this room today is struggling and you don’t know it but maybe you’re standing right next to them. You gotta reach out, you got to talk to each other. There’s a darkness that just gets in there sometimes and hopefully, some of you can be a light for someone.”

The Jae Foundation has traditionally provided cowboy boots to Sublette County’s high school seniors. The Big Piney High School graduating Class of 2023 crossed the stage and collected their diplomas while wearing the Jae Boots gifted to them by the foundation.

High school seniors are encouraged to apply for the $5,000 Words for Woody Scholarship through the Jae Foundation. The 2023 scholarship recipient is Kaden Chatterton.

The Jae Foundation also partners with the Double J Ranch in Daniel to provide “transformational summer retreats” that focus on self-leadership and healing for people who have lost loved ones to suicide. Retreats that focus on leadership development are also available for sports teams, businesses, teens, women and families. For more information, contact jamie@jaefoundation.com.

The Jae Foundation also hosts outreach events like the Teen Line and Swing Dancing nights at the Pinedale Aquatic Center. More than two dozen Sublette County teens came out for the Nov. 19 class.

For years Wyoming has had one of the worst suicide rates in the nation, with 190 deaths by suicide recorded in 2021. In 2022, the state began offering round-the-clock help for folks in crisis via a staffed call line at 988. In the last year, the two centers in Wyoming have fielded more than 4,000 phone calls from folks in crisis reaching out for help.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in a crisis, immediate and confidential help is available. Call or text 988 or chat online at 988lifeline.org.

Check out the Nov. 30, 2023 Pinedale Roundup for more photos of boot check moments.