Rotary Run For Life

My team spent the morning at Stony Plain’s Rotary Run For Life welcoming the finishing runners to the pavilion with a lion dance. I am blessed to have students who are so willing and able to volunteer so much time for worthy causes.

Proceeds from the Rotary Run For Life went to support Stony Plain’s Coordinated Suicide Prevention Program. Mental health, and the stigma surrounding it, are issues that should be brought to the forefront of society. The majority of Canadians will be touched by mental health issues, directly and indirectly, in their lifetime. Yet many, if not most, will suffer alone. Such is the nature of this issue. Until getting help for depression and anxiety is as easy as getting treated for a broken bone, this problem will persist.

I have been personally touched by suicide. I am grateful for the efforts of organizations like Rotary who step up to help address mental health issues by creating awareness and understanding. We have a long way to go but events like the Run For Life are a step in the right direction.

“I didn’t want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that’s really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare, like when you wake up from a nightmare you’re so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare.” - Ned Vizzini (1981 - 2013)