A teenager from Ste. Anne wanted to do something special to mark the birthday of her father, Kevin Rivard, who passed away 10 years ago, and the community showed up in numbers to offer strong support.
Alex Chatel is 14 years old and planned a fundraising dinner in support of Project 11, a True North Foundation initiative that was inspired by the late Rick Rypien. He played for the Moose and Jets prior to his death. Rypien was an advocate for people impacted by mental health challenges.
“I play a lot of hockey and so I like that they’re very involved in hockey and with athletes,” Alex says about Project 11. “And it’s inspired by a hockey player, too. They came to my school, and I liked the stuff they were doing.”
Alex decided to hold a fundraising dinner, made arrangements and then posted the details on social media. The responses came quickly and before he knew it, he sold more tickets than what he actually had for the June 7th event.
Alex Chatel at the fundraiser with his friends who showed up with a lot of support. (Photo Submitted)So, a few more phone calls and Alex had arranged for a second fundraising dinner to be held on June 6th.
He went back to social media and sent out an update. That post ended with a note of appreciation.
“I can’t even tell you how happy this makes me and how I appreciate all of this support. Thank you to everyone helping me, I am looking forward to making a donation to Project 11 in my Dad’s name!”
Donations came in for a silent auction, enough prizes for both evenings. And when all the money was counted, from dinner tickets to support tickets, the raffle and silent auction, Alex raised $9,190 for Project 11.
That was a lot more than the $1,000 they had hoped for, and more than the $5,000 he courageously dreamed about.
Teachers from Pointe-des-Chênes school came to Alex Chatel’s fundraising event. (Photo Submitted)Alex’s mom, Tara, says this money will help Project 11 to continue offering a free mental health curriculum to teachers, benefiting students from Kindergarten through Grade 12. She hopes this will also open the door for more people to talk about mental health, mental illness and sharing information about the supports for people who need help.
Tara says there is still a stigma attached to mental illness, but she emphasizes that mental illness requires medical attention, very much like cancer or any type of illness.
Kevin lost his battle with mental illness on June 4th, 2013. Tara says she has no doubt that he would have been very proud of the work their son put into the memorial fundraiser, the thought and care Alex put into the details. She says this fundraiser helped the two of them get through a difficult anniversary.
“We just really wanted to do something very special,” Tara says. “It felt like 10 years deserved something special. It was a hard thing that was 10 years, and so we decided that we should try to do something positive with it because it was going to be a hard one.”
Tara and Alex are both still in shock by the incredible response and are very thankful for each person who helped with the event and offered support.
Here are some links to websites that offer Mental Health support and resources:
*Shared Health, Mental Health and Resource Finder
*Canadian Mental Health Association
*Southern Health, Mental Health supports