MEG’s Gift, Inc., a local non-profit dedicated to raising mental health awareness and access to services in the Rochester community, presented the Western NY chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention with a check for $50,000 in October. The money was raised from the organization’s fifth annual charity golf tournament and community dinner that was held in August.
MEG’s Gift chose the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) as the event’s primary beneficiary because of its proven track record of engaging and educating a wide range of different community groups about mental illness and suicide prevention. In 2018 alone, the Western New York Chapter of the organization, which covers all of Monroe and adjacent counties, offered 134 programs (triple the number from the previous year) and reached more than 8,000 individuals.
Ray Garbach, speaking on behalf of the Board of Directors of MEG’s Gift, and father of Megan Garbach of whom the non-profit serves to honor, indicated that the “educational programs of AFSP align nicely with the mission of MEG’s Gift, especially those that target student groups,” stating that “it is important that they are provided a safe forum to talk about mental health issues, learn about warning signs of illness and what steps they can take to seek help for themselves or their friends.”
Karen Heisig, Board Chair of the local AFSP chapter hopes that funds raised from this event will allow the organization to expand their school programs in the next year to include parent and school staff programs.
Since its founding in 2014, MEG’s Gift has raised and donated more than $223,000 to organizations and programs in the Rochester area that are working to end the stigma surrounding mental health and aid those dealing with mental illness. Among the organizations MEG’s Gift has benefited to date are St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center, the Veteran’s Outreach Center, East House, and The Consortium on Trauma, Illness and Grief in Schools (TIG).
For information on MEG’s Gift, visit www.megsgift.org.
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