Support for Sudbury Defeat Depression event exceeds expectations
The Sudbury Defeat Depression Walk/Run returned to Bell Park on Saturday, as the COVID-19 pandemic eases and normal events resume.
The walk was rained out in 2019 and the last two years were virtual events, so organizers said they set the expectations low as participants came back to an in-person event this year.
“At first we thought maybe a hundred -- in our wildest dreams --participants signing up,” said Martin Boucher, executive director of the Northern Initiative for Social Action (NISA).
"Just week over week that limit just kept going up the response of the community was just so great."
The annual event is a national mental health fundraising campaign. It's an initiative of Mood Disorders Society of Canada that provides funds for local community health organizations.
NISA is the beneficiary in Sudbury. It's a peer support mental health service.
Initially hoping to raise $25,000, officials said more than 300 people participated Saturday and raised about $85,000, most of which will stay in Sudbury.
“A small percentage goes to the Mood Disorders Society of Canada to do some national campaigning for peer organizations and community mental health," said Boucher.
"Here in Sudbury, the thing about fundraised dollars is we can really pivot and use it as we want."
Participants on Saturday said what it comes down to is raising awareness and reminding people that they are not alone.
NISA has seen a significant increase in the need for mental health services during the pandemic and officials said Saturday's event will allow the organization to expand community outreach and ensure it can continue to provide quality programs and services.
For more information about NISA, click here or call (705) 222-6472.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.