After making the difficult decision to cancel our Give Mom the Mic fundraiser for the second year in a row, we reached out to our community of donors for help. We were touched and honored by the many donations we received, including a very generous gift of $5,000 from Mind Mission, a local non-profit organization that raises mental health awareness and builds community through fitness and adventure.
Mental health advocate and fundraiser Derek Davis founded Mind Mission with the help of friends and coworkers who all share a passion for mental health and physical fitness.
“The people involved are what make this so fun,” Derek says. “They’re what make it possible to reach the goals we’ve set.”
His team of board members – each with a personal connection to mental health – includes psychiatric nurse practitioners, social workers, and counselors from Nationwide Children’s Hospital; the Ohio Area Director for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; and even a CrossFit champion.
Derek’s own mental health journey started when he began experiencing severe depression and panic attacks. After he found help through MHAOhio’s Pro Bono Counseling Program, he wanted to give back. Because exercise was one important component of his recovery, he decided to create a fitness fundraiser.
“Therapy, medication, exercise, and mindfulness meditation – those are the four big pillars of my mental health,” Derek shares. So in 2016 he biked and kayaked over 175 miles and raised $5,100 for MHAOhio to help other people who face mental illness and have difficulty accessing treatment.
Over the last few years, Derek and Mind Mission have carved out a unique space in the mental health world, raising awareness and funds for mental wellness while building community through physical fitness adventures. Mind Mission has held three fundraisers so far. Derek and his team biked from Cleveland to Columbus, completed a 200-mile loop around Central Ohio, and more recently made their way across the state from Cleveland to Cincinnati. In May of 2022 they hope to host a larger event through which any participant can sign up, raise money, and join in the challenge. by Maureen Traverse, Education Manager
For Derek, the experience of riding with his team is an apt metaphor for how we should approach mental illness. Central to Mind Mission’s vision is that no one is meant to fight alone.
“Community is what it’s all about,” Derek says. “The ride from Cleveland to Cincinnati was physically and mentally demanding. But once you finish you have this sense that you did something special, this feeling of accomplishment. And when you can do it with other people that you really love and care about – it’s probably the closest I’ve felt to complete peace, being on that bike, riding with people with one mission in mind.”
The work we do at MHAOhio is all about community. Without the help of donors like Mind Mission, we could not provide the help and support that we do in Central Ohio and beyond.
Join Mind Mission in supporting MHAOhio and give a donation of any amount at mhaohio.org/donate.
