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Advocacy for Mental Illness must and will continue

November 13, 2011 By Lee Leave a Comment

Although our 2011 Going Blue 4 U campaign has come to a close, the work of mental illness awareness and suicide prevention will continue, it MUST!

Our team is compiling their cash/cheque donations and we hope to have a final fundraising amount by the end of this week.  Online donations to date are $6,203.30 and will continue to remain open, as there are a few people who have indicated they wish to donate at the end of November.  For your tax deductible receipt Donate HERE and choose the charity you wish to support..

Our entire team has worked tirelessly at raising funds, and creating awareness.  All, sharing countless stories of how people are opening up and talking.  Way to Go team.

Thank you to our amazing sponsors for your generosity, kindness and willingness to support Mental illness awareness:
Media Eye Studios
DevaDave
RAD Printing

 

As I reflect on the speed and spontaneity at which GB4U took place, and the positive impact it has on mental illness awareness I am filled with gratitude.  Gratitude for a a small yet mighty team from Victoria BC to Halifax NS, who came together, a small yet mighty team who created conversations, a small yet mighty team who put themselves out there in the media – ALL for mental illness awareness in Canada – which is desperately needed.

Thank YOU and congrats to our GB4U Victoria, BC  Coordinator Laurel Hounslow who will be continuing her own awareness campaign to Banish the Blues over the holiday season.

The “blue hair” idea originated from Cristi Comes who inspired a group of bloggers #BlueBloggers to raise awareness and funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and it quickly caught on.  Cristi writes the amazing blog Motherhood Unadorned, she is an inspiration to me with her advocacy work and blogging – thank YOU Cristi.  Funnily enough, I had been observing the success of her campaign and wondering how we could do something similar in Canada when I received the tweet on September 26, 2011 that set the wheels in motion for Going Blue 4 U.  Perfectly timed this twitter conversation with Laurel Hounslow and myself was as I was stuck with what to do with Mental Illness Awareness Week.

My personal fundraising goal was $4,000 to date my wonderful friends helped raise $3,848 for Distress Centre and supported me dyeing streaks of my hair blue for GB4U.

June this year I held my 2nd Annual Lee’s Birthday Wish Campaign which raised $3,940 for Distress Centre.  The BIG reason why the GB4U goal was $40,000 was my own personal desire to raise this amount for my 40th Birthday for Distress Centre.  Unfortunately, this high amount put some stress on team members which I am sorry for.  It really isn’t about the $$$, it’s about the advocacy, the awareness, the inspiration and the positive light in which people are talking about mental illness.

 

When we come together and talk, advocate, share and inspire lives can & will be saved.  People who are in darkness, feeling alone and desperate will have a glimmer of hope.  According to Mood Disorders Society of Canada (one of our amazing fundraising recipients) Mental illness is a serious disturbance in thoughts, feelings and perceptions that is severe enough to affect day-to-day functioning. Some names for mental illness include:

  • Schizophrenia – seeing, smelling or hearing things that aren’t there – or holding firm beliefs that make no sense to anyone else but you.
  • Depression – intense feelings of sadness and worthlessness – so bad that you have lost interest in life.
  • Bi-polar disorder – cycles of feeling intensely happy and invincible followed by depression.
  • Anxiety disorders – panic attacks, phobias, obsessions or post traumatic stress disorder.
  • Eating disorders – anorexia (not eating), or bulimia (eating too much and then vomiting).
  • Borderline personality disorder – severe difficulty with relationships, placing yourself in danger, making decisions that turn out to be very bad for you – most often as a result of a history of child abuse, abandonment or neglect.

 

Moving forward, Going Blue 4 U will relaunch an annual campaign under the I Am Brave (website almost complete) umbrella in 2012.  We have a team of dedicated individuals working at creating a planned, well-organized and thought through campaign.  In saying that, advocacy will NOT end it is a daily effort that everyone needs to be a part of to reduce the stigma, create awareness for mental illness and for suicide prevention.

YOU are not alone.  YOU are loved.

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4 Streaks of Blue 4 U > 6 million Canadians with Mental Illness

November 8, 2011 By Lee 1 Comment

Given a bit of manifesting hope I decided to get 4 streaks of blue as I was personally close to raising $4,000 for Distress Centre with the Going Blue 4 U Campaign.  As always I anticipated an incredibly fun morning, and YES it was.

Dave Richards of DevaDave Boutique & Salon is one of the generous In-Kind Sponsors for Going Blue 4 U and he is also a dear and cherished friend whom I adore.  Last minute he scrambled to fit me in yesterday to dye my hair with blue streaks.

Just before leaving I thought to myself, there really should be a professional photographer here to take photos as this could be the last time I dye my hair blue for another year.  After some tweets and a facebook message, the search was  unsuccessful.  Until…  my dear friend Rhea who is a very talented amateur photographer showed up.  She didn’t have her own camera, however Rhea worked wonders with Dave’s.

I decided to go a bolder blue this time, choosing “Shocking Blue” from Manic Panic semi permanent hair colors.  A bold choice!  As Dave put the foils in, for a split second I thought “I truly am crazy.”

Great conversation, catching up and a somber reflection on three recent suicides of young kids in Calgary reiterated the “WHY?” of Going Blue 4 U, and the commitment for our team to fundraise and create awareness.

As Dave blow dried my hair, I felt this playful sense of pride.  This truly is a positive approach to mental illness and suicide prevention.  A lighthearted way to help reduce the stigma and create conversations around this still taboo subject.  Our team may not reach our $40,000 fundraising goal, and that’s okay (we are still hoping we will).  More importantly we have got people talking all over the world with this campaign that started from a Tweet on  September 26, 2011 in support of Mental Illness Awareness Week.

As Dave was doing the finishing touches to my hair I looked in the mirror and said:
“Dave this is really too high for me, I’ve never puffed up my hair like this!”

“Are you kidding me?  Your hair is blue, and you’re worried about it being too high!” Dave said in hilarious disbelief.

After finishing my hair he led me into one of his back rooms, and proceeded to doll me up with make up.  Pointing out ways I can highlight certain features.  Just another example of going above and beyond and his beautiful way of always making me feel like a princess whenever I come see him.

A HUGE thank you to Deva Dave for his generosity, his unconditional love, his playfulness and his BIG HEART!

A HUGE thank you to my dear friend Rhea for taking such beautiful photographs.

Donations close at midnight Friday November 11th, 2011

We have currently raised approximately $8,000.  If we have 3,200 people donate $10 in 4 days we WILL reach our $40,000 goal.

DONATE HERE


for your tax deductible receipt and to show your support for 6 million Canadians who live with mental illness.

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$10

November 3, 2011 By Lee 3 Comments

We have just 9 days to go for Going Blue 4 U, an awareness campaign putting a colorful spin on the blues that began from a tweet on September 26, 2011.  To date our incredible team has raised over $6,000 for our charities.  We still need $34,000 to reach our goal.

How can you help?

 

If YOU donated $10 and asked 10 friends to donate $10 – that would = $110

So all we need is 340 people in Canada – a country with a population of over 33 million people – to do this…

Are YOU in?  Please take a stand to help reduce the stigma around mental illness, our country needs it and 6 million Canadians who suffer with mental illness needs it.

What happens with your money?
It goes to local charitable organizations that provide support, resources and tools for crisis and mental health.

Donate $10 NOW  HERE

www.goinblue4u.ca

and don’t ever forget You are not alone.  You are LOVED.

 

I leave you with this phenomenal poem!

$20

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by:
holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked,
“Who would like this $20 bill?”
Hands started going up.
He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.
He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.
He then asked, “Who still wants it?”
Still the hands were up in the air.
Well, he replied, “What if I do this?”
And he dropped it on the ground
and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.
“Now, who still wants it?”
Still the hands went into the air.
My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it
because it did not decrease in value.
It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground
into the dirt by the decisions we make and
the circumstances that come our way.
We feel as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or
what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased,
you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.
The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know,
but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE.
You are special -
Don’t EVER forget it.”

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Canada we MUST step up to Reduce the Stigma

November 2, 2011 By Lee 2 Comments

In Calgary in the past week two young boys, 16 years old and 17 years old committed suicide.

I am not one to sensationalize, I prefer to shine a positive light on mental illness awareness and suicide prevention.  However, this is just two young lives lost that I have been notified of through friends.  How many more in Canada have taken their lives, or have made non-fatal attempts, or are quietly dealing  with either bullying, depression or a mental illness.

 

These are just a few of the alarming statistics reported by Mood Disorders Society of Canada

  • Suicide accounts for 24% of all deaths among Canadians aged 15 – 24 and 16% of all deaths for the age group 25 – 44.
  • Age with the highest rate of depression symptoms: Under 20 years of age
  • Age with the highest rate of anxiety symptoms: 20 – 29 years of age

 

On October 16th I wrote this post “Your awareness and words can save a life” this was a CLEAR display of the FACT that mental illness and suicide is indeed happening, and this is just MY experience.  Not to mention the 4 calls every minute that Distress Centre in Calgary answers on their 24 Hour Crisis Line.

On October 25th Rick Mercer’s RANT garnered mass attention YET still – what is happening?  How many more lives do we need to lose before strategies are put in place.

Going Blue 4 U was formed with love and determination to help raise funds for Crisis Lines across the country that provide 24 hour crisis support and most importantly to bring awareness to a topic the majority of our population would like to sweep under the mat and turn a blind eye.
We are in our last 10 day stretch of the Going Blue 4 U campaign and have a long way to go for our $40,000 fundraising goal.  Although our dedicated, passionate and incredible team are not attached to the $$$$, we would really like to see more support from businesses, government and politics to STAND UP and take notice.

We received our first major donation from a local business yesterday of $1000 – A HUGE thank you to James Electric of Calgary for your support and willingness to donate to such an important cause.

You can support Mental Illness awareness through Going Blue 4 U by

  • Online, cash or cheque donations
  • Vote for us at the Aviva Community Fund second round of voting closes November 9th – you can vote every day.
  • Educate yourself about mental illness
  • Ask someone today “Are you okay?  REALLY???

PLEASE help people realize

YOU are not alone.  YOU are loved.

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What would you do if your world came crashing down?

October 26, 2011 By Lee Leave a Comment

Imagine being at the top of your game, you have everything you could ever dream of having,
LIFE IS GOOD…

Now STOP!
Your world comes crashing down, and your dreams are shattered.

 

What would you do?  How would you cope?  Who could you turn to?

 

Reach out and ask for help!  Sometimes not realizing the help you are wanting to push away will save your life.

 

This powerful movie, based on the best selling novel The Way of The Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman is simply put LIFE CHANGING!  How do I know?  I have lost count of the times I have watched it.  The lessons that Socrates gives Dan are profound and wise, inspirational and empowering, I apply them to my life on a daily basis.  Personally, this is the most transformation movie I have ever seen.

 

 

Monday, November 7th, 2011

Going Blue 4 U (GB4U) is an Awareness campaign putting a colorful spin on the blues.  Raising funds and awareness for mental illness.  Passionate team members are dyeing are Going Blue for 6 million Canadians who have mental illness.  I will be hosting a private screening of The Peaceful Warrior at Self Connection Books in NW Calgary for 50 lucky people.  The full $20 entry fee will be a tax deductible donation to Distress Centre.

For details and to register your spot Click HERE

Hope to see you there.
Hugs & love

 

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