Pulling Weeds, a suicide prevention initiative, was founded by Nicole Noble after the loss of her 14-year-old nephew, Jake Noble. His passing deeply impacted not only his family but the entire community. Jake’s viewing, held at a stadium, brought more than 1,200 people together, a powerful reflection of how many lives he touched.
“It showed how many people Jake touched and how many people loved him and how much he mattered,” said Nicole Noble. “He knew he was loved. He knew he mattered, but he still struggled to pull his own weeds.”
That idea of “pulling weeds” became the foundation for the organization. Noble describes weeds as the negative challenges everyone faces in life. As Pulling Weeds continues to grow, so does the community support behind it, with volunteers and local organizations stepping up to help make a difference.
“Pulling Weeds is a non-profit organization that is based around suicide prevention,” Noble said. “We’re not so much about suicide awareness because we all are aware of the situation. We’ve had four adolescent suicides in Darke County in a total of seven months, and one of those happened to be my nephew Jake Noble.”
Noble said Jake’s giving spirit inspired the organization’s name and mission.
“Jake was absolutely incredibly giving and loving,” said Noble. “At Jake’s viewing, we had over twelve hundred people come, and some of them we weren’t sure who they were, and we had a couple of older ladies tell us they only knew him from his bicycle that he ran around and came to pull their weeds, so that is where pulling weeds came from.”
“Jake was always pulling other people’s weeds, whether it was physically or internally, but unfortunately, he was not able to pull his own weeds, his own internal weeds,” Noble continued. “It impacted so many people, and we wanted to, not just because of Jake, but the other children’s suicides in our county, help those children learn how to pull their weeds on their own and ask for help, so we have created this organization to give back to the community and help children bloom beyond their weeds.”
The organization recently hosted its “Bloom the Course” event at Caddie Shack, using the cleanup and restoration of the property as a physical representation of growth, healing, and renewal.
“Today we have Bloom the Course Event,” Noble said. “My brother was out here, and he noticed how overgrown it was, and we thought it would be a great physical representation of how something overgrown, not really well taken care of at the moment, comes to life and blooms.”
Noble praised Caddie Shack owner Bob for embracing the project and supporting local youth.
“The owner of Caddie Shack, Bob, is absolutely incredible,” said Noble. “We love him. We think he is a great asset to the community and to the children who come here. He’s like Grandpa Bob, so it’s a great part for him because as children come out here, they are going to build that relationship with Bob as well, but we also get the kids out of the house. That is a big part of these statistics and mental health.”
Noble emphasized the importance of outdoor activity, community involvement, and positive interaction for children struggling with mental health challenges.
“Kids aren’t getting that sunshine and not getting those endorphins they need to bloom,” Noble said. “For someone to grow, it’s much like a flower, they need that water, they need that sunshine, they need a lot so this event is going to show them how community coming together and hard work individually that they can bloom beyond their weeds as well as the course.”
Participants not only helped restore the course but were also rewarded with opportunities to return throughout the summer.
“The kids also get to come back and play seven times free throughout the summer, so they get to come back and also enjoy this and see their hard work and see everything over and over again, and to have that reminder,” said Noble.
The event featured multiple hands-on activities, all made possible through donations and volunteers.
“Everything here was donated, so that is a really cool thing as well,” Noble said. “We had a rock station for kids, we had a course station where they get to pull weeds physically and put different things out, they get to plant a flower and take it home so they can have that memory as well.”
Noble said one special addition to the course is a bike rack honoring Jake’s memory.
“We have an awesome bike rack in memory of Jake, as he was always riding his bike around town,” said Noble.
Noble also credited Hunter George and George Landscaping for helping bring the vision to life.
“Hunter George has really been the lead on this whole everything,” Noble said. “He has donated so much and so much of his time to bringing this place to life.”
“Hunter George is with George Landscaping,” Noble added. “Jake worked for Hunter George and helped him on so many projects. They were very close, and this is just near and dear to our hearts because Jake loved doing things outdoors, which is why this is so big for us.”
The community response exceeded expectations.
“We have over 100 people here, which is absolutely incredible,” Noble said.
She also thanked the many businesses and individuals who contributed to the event.
“We also had Wasson’s Nursery donate so many things to us, amongst several other donors,” Noble said.
“Sue Curtis has done so much for us,” Noble continued. “She has donated so many things and so much time. We are so grateful to everyone. People want to help, they want to help others, they want to give back, and this is the place they can do that and feel good about it.”
Hunter George said his connection to Jake made the project deeply personal.
“Jake was a good friend of mine,” said Hunter George. “This all stemmed from him wanting to work with me. It was a unique situation because Jake was 14 years old. He worked like a grown man, and in the transition of all that, he became a really close friend and wanted to be a tag-along for everything.”
“He was almost like a mini me in a way,” George added. “That was the feeling we had when we were together. When we went out on jobs he would genuinely want to be there. That is where we spent most of our time together. I was on the job, but he always wanted to be there.”
Greenville City Councilman Chris Norris praised the effort and the message behind the organization.
“It has been a fantastic day out here,” said Chris Norris. “Nicole Noble and Ryan Benge have been the backing of this and it’s for community support. We keep suicide awareness in the background. That’s what spawned the committee coming together, all these volunteers out here, but it’s more for the mystique of pulling weeds and trying to get things that are bad in your heart, your mind, your soul out and to be able to communicate.”
“So bringing the community together like this, and especially all the youth that are here today is fabulous to let them know they have somebody to talk to, somebody to go to, and that there is a lot of community support,” Norris added.
