Donalda Hingston of Dedham knows the pain of losing a child: Her son, Edward, was 27 when he committed suicide on March 15, 2001.

On Sept. 22 that year, Hingston, now 69 and a longtime clerk in the Brookline Assessor’s Department, took her first Samaritans’ 5K Run/Walk for Suicide Prevention in Edward’s memory — and she has walked every one since.

She will do it again at the 18th annual event Oct. 1 in Artesani Park in Brighton. “Edward’s Team’’ has raised more than $100,000 for the Samaritans over the years.

“It’s not a long walk, but it takes me two hours,’’ Hingston said with a laugh, “because I go slow, talking to all my friends.’’

Her other three children had urged her to join the walk in 2001. She was hesitant.

“I thought I wasn’t emotionally fit, but it turned out to be wonderful, and has been ever since,’’ she said. “They told me, ‘Edward will be walking with us.’ ’’

Hingston also volunteers with Samaritans Safe Place support groups in Needham and Boston four times a month and does other volunteer work for the Samaritans. She likes helping others, she said, something that works both ways.

“It helps me in my grief,’’ she said. “I always said I just want to help one person or one family not to have to go through this journey. It’s a club you don’t want to belong to.

“We always say that all the money in the world will not bring our loved ones back, but it’s great knowing that the money raised goes to prevention programs,’’ she said.

It was hard to get involved right away, she said, because the grief was fresh.

“After the funeral, everyone goes their own way and you go back to your new normal,’’ she said. “But there is no new normal; it’s not the same, and you don’t like it.’’

The walk “makes you realize how many people are affected by suicide — you’re not alone,’’ she said, adding that the tone of the event is “a celebration­ of our loved ones’ lives.’’

For more information, visit­ www.give.samaritanshope.org.

Paul Kandarian can be reached at pkandarian@aol.com.