ALYSSA ALFANO
BG Independent Contributor
Three organizations on Bowling Green State University’s campus will be combining fitness, education, and a lot of color to raise awareness about mental illness and to get rid of stigmas and stereotypes related to this issue.
Active Minds, Undergraduate Psychology Association and National Alliance on Mental Illness BG are three student organizations that worked together to plan a 5K color run to raise money for an organization called Behavioral Connections.
“Mental illness is so common, one out of five Americans have one. Mental illness affects many college students, but the stigma associated with mental illness is so great that they do not want to get help,” said Rena Onady, one of those involved with putting on this event.
Last year, there was about 60 participants and around $1,000 dollars was raised. The money was donated to YouthMOVE, NAMI Wood County, and Behavioral Connections.
This year, the race will be held on the BGSU campus and will be starting in the Union Oval at noon on April 2.
The goal of this event, in addition to raising money for Behavioral Connection, is to raise awareness about mental illness. Despite the commonness of mental illnesses, there are still a lot of myths and stereotypes about these issues.
In order to educate participants and others involved in the 5K, there will be signs containing facts about mental illnesses throughout the course. Participants will be able to view these to learn some truths about these issues.
Onady said: “We chose to do a 5k because we agreed that this would be the easiest way we could get the students and the community involved. We wanted to create an event that would have a good turnout in order to show people who have a mental illness that their community supports them. We also wanted to create an event where everyone would have fun, and it is open to people of all ages.”
To learn more about this event, visit the E-Race Stigma 5K Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/events/965714530227203/.
The Facebook page has additional information, a map for the course, information about how to buy E-Race the Stigma 5K apparel, and more.
You can view registration info on the Facebook page as well or register through the website created for the event. However, registration ends on April 1 at 11:59pm. Race and check in time, registration information, and other important information is located on this page.
So, if you like to run and enjoy getting colorful while you do, want a tshirt, and are interested in learning about and supporting mental illness then this is the event for you!
Another reason to get involved in this event is for your loved ones. Onady says “if you know five people, statistically speaking at least one of those people will suffer from a diagnosable mental illness at one point in their life.”
Planning the event has been a lot of work. So far about 40 people are registered to participate. The goal is to get at least 60 participants and to raise $1,500.
“Needless to say, planning a 5k is very time consuming, but it helps that we have 3 organizations collaborating and the support of the Psychology Department and the Counseling Center,” said Onady.
The deadline to sign up for the race is April 1 so be sure to check out the website and facebook page if you’d like more information.
