THUNDER BAY - A new raffle in the city has not only made one local resident $10,000 richer, but is also helping reduce the stigma around mental health by getting more people talking about issues that often go unspoken.
“This is how we will make a change in reducing the stigma around mental illness,” said Jennifer Hyslop, chief executive officer with the Canadian Mental Health Association Thunder Bay Branch. “The more we talk about it, hopefully it will be like talking about having a sore throat. I believe these kinds of events make a huge difference in our community and keep us talking about it.”
In order to get that conversation started, Open Minds hosted its first annual 50/50 draw this year and unveiled the winner and total amount raised on Tuesday.
The first lucky winner is Jen Helkie, who walks away with $10,755. The Canadian Mental Health Association Thunder Bay Branch also received the same amount.
Irene Dahl, a member of Open Minds, said the committee was shocked by the amount raised in the draw’s first year.
“When we first set out we went for $5,000,” she said. “This community absolutely came through for us.”
The draw was launched only four months ago during the Daryl Stubbings Memorial Golf Tournament and in that time 5,000 tickets were sold.
“We know how we are going to be able to be bigger and better next year,” Dahl said. “We want to do this again in the future and raising more money for the Canadian Mental Health Association of Thunder Bay.”
The money raised will go toward education and training programs at the Canadian Mental Health Association.
According to Dahl, Open Minds wanted to do more for the community, and saw the issue of mental health as something that needs to be talked about more in the city.
“We are finding in our community there are a lot of mental health issues. We wanted to help out,” she said.
The draw will continue to support the Canadian Mental Health Association, Dahl said, because of the important work that they do for the community.
“They do so much for Thunder Bay,” she said. “A lot of people also don’t know exactly what they do for the community and that help is out there. We wanted to get that out, the local help for our community.”
“It is incredibly exciting to have (Open Minds) here,” Hyslop added. “They have worked so hard at this raffle and I am stunned by the amount of money they raised and that they were able to sell out. It says a lot about their commitment to making changes to mental health and how we think about it in the community, and also just how responsive the community was and purchasing tickets.”
