ARTHUR – Proceeds from a July 14 lemonade stand set up by Wellington North’s Arthur Day Camp have been used to set up a new Buddy Bench.
“Our campers worked very hard to sell our lemonade and raise some money for the camp. We were so excited when we found out that we received over $500 in donations,” stated day camp site leader Paige Coffey in a email to the Community News.
“After putting some thought into what the donations should go towards, our camp team decided to reach out to Myrna Hutchison and the SH44 (Get In Touch for Hutch) team, an organization [which] brings awareness to mental health in our Arthur community.”
Coffey added, “We are thrilled to join in on the Buddy Bench project, which focuses on fostering friendships, supporting kindness and inclusion, providing awareness on our mental health message of #NeverAlone and to promote an opportunity for conversations to begin on the playground.”
With the assistance of Get In Touch for Hutch founder Myrna Hutchison, a Buddy Bench has been placed at “a very special spot” near the camp’s home base at the Arthur ball diamond.
“We are hoping many families and friends in our community will put our bench to good use and create some lifelong buddies,” Coffey notes.
Creating awareness
Get In Touch for Hutch was founded by Hutchison to educate and provide training, tools and resources relating to suicide awareness and mental health following the 2013 death of her son Stephen, who took his own life while in his dorm room at university.
The Get In Touch for Hutch website explains “Steven’s passing came as a shock to all who knew him. Steven was not diagnosed with a mental illness and sadly, no one, not even those closest to him, had any idea how much he was struggling … in silence.”
