Planting Seeds of Hope to Open Conversation of Youth Suicide

Owen Tabor, 15, was popular, never bullied, good looking, fun loving, athletic, and came from a stable home with a family rooted in faith that loved and supported him. He was a graduate of St. Jean Vianney School and was a good student at St. Michael High School. When he took his life on April 29, 2023, two weeks from his 16th birthday, his family and friends were filled with heartache.   

Amid their suffering, Owen's parents, Jordan and Lisa, determined they would not let his tragedy go to waste. They decided to transform their pain into purpose. Within 15 days of Owen's death the Tabors founded the Rain Will Bring Flowers Foundation. The non-profit organization focuses on preventing youth suicide through education, awareness, and support, especially for student athletes. Its objective is to normalize mental health discussions and provide resources for people in crisis. The conversations are in-depth and direct.

"I share with people that if Owen could fall victim to suicide, then really all our kids are at risk," said Jordan Tabor.

The organization's initiatives include:

•  Continued education and awareness throughout the community with the goal of normalizing mental health conversations 
• Suicide awareness education to students, parents, and faculty 
• Modernizing mental health technology within the school systems
• Grow endowment to provide scholarships for graduating high school seniors entering the behavioral health profession

 
Planting Seeds of Hope is the signature event for Rain Will Bring Flowers. This year it will be held Feb. 24, 6 p.m., at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at LSU.  It will feature speakers whose names draw young people, who will talk about how they overcame trials in their lives. 

This year's panel of speakers include Ryan Clark, former National Football League player; Clyde Edwards-Helaire, former running back at LSU and running back for the Kansas City Chiefs; Rick Yarosh, a retired Army sergeant, who was severely burned while in Iraq; and John Foster, of Addis, the runner up on American Idol season 23 (2025).

Tabor pointed out that student athletes are particularly vulnerable to suicide, with suicide being the second leading cause of death for NCAA athletes.

"Athletes have a lot of pressure on them. They are performers and they've also been taught from a very early age, 'no pain, no gain.' 'Live through the pain,' 'Just rub some dirt on it,' 'Toughen up ...,'" said Tabor.

He emphasized that Planting Seeds of Hope is open to young people of all backgrounds.
Tabor cited statistics that in Louisiana, suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth.

"Suicide doesn't have a face. It doesn't discriminate," said Tabor.

He called suicide an epidemic, a silent killer. 

While there are some excellent programs that works on letting young people know about the dangers of drugs and drunk driving, Tabor said no one really talks about suicide. Rain Will Bring Flowers opens the door to talking about the issue to bring healing and victory in people's lives.

In 2024, the organization also initiated a campaign in partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention called "Prevention in Every Parish." Its goal is to educate 100,000 middle and high school students, faculty, parents, and coaches in Louisiana. To date, it has trained just over 93,000 people.

"It's been wildly successful," said Tabor. "We're not training kids to be mental health professionals, but we're training them to basically trust their gut. If they pick up some warning signs from a friend, from a peer, the focus of the education is to get that child to a trusted adult."
Ryan ClarkJohn Foster
Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Rain Will Bring Flowers also has partnered in another initiative with the Joe Burrow Foundation, which provides resources and support to the underprivileged and underserved. Last year they provided $1,000 grants to 53 schools in the East Baton Rouge area.

"The mental health professionals, counselors, and kids collaborated to come up with some creative ideas to raise awareness around the world for Teen Mental Health Day (March 2)," Tabor said.

Owen would have graduated last May. In his honor, the Tabors established an endowment fund to provide a graduating senior who plans to enter the behavioral health profession with a four-year university scholarship.

"Our goal is to take on a new student every year," said Tabor.

Ultimately, Planting Seeds of Hope is about celebrating life, according to Tabor. The Rain Will Bring Flowers Foundation's efforts to turn tragedy into an opportunity to help others has been enthusiastically received.

"We've gotten feedback from parents and coaches on previous events," Tabor said. "We got calls and texts the next day letting us know that the event was amazing and that it opened the door for conversations with their kids that were very hard to initiate. The event was just a way for parents to engage with their kids around a really tough topic."

For more information about Rain Will Bring Flowers and to RSVP for Planting Seeds of Hope, visit rainwillbringflowers.org/event-details/planting-seeds-of-hope-2026.