Libbie Young troopers raise funds

Christie Wolanuk, left, and Mallory Smith from the Libbie Young Centre gave each other a high five to end their 600-kilometre fundraising bike ride from Calgary to Bud Miller Park. They raised nearly $50,000 for a Mental Health Matters day program. They rolled into the park last Thursday and wrapped up the campaign at the Gold Horse Casino on Saturday with a motivational talk by Kaleb Dahlgren, a survivor of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash. Geoff Lee Meridian Source

 

Talk about dedication. 

Libbie Young Centre staffers Mallory Smith and Christie Wolanuk were sore but sound after helping to raise nearly $50,000 for the centre’s Mental Health Matters day program, the hard way.

They both rode 600 kilometres on bicycles donated by Canadian Tire in four days from Calgary to Lloydminster, arriving at Bud Miller All Seasons Park picnic area for a barbecue last Thursday with an RCMP escort.

“Exhausted,” is how Smith described how she and Wolanuk were feeling when they dismounted with cheers from some of their clients and well-wishers.

“We battled the wind all day today, so everything was twice as hard today with every stroke of the pedals. Our derrieres are a little sore; our muscles are fatigued, but we’re happy we got here,” said Smith.

Wolanuk said she was fatigued and sore too, but Smith kept her going.

“She knows when I’m in my zone or when I’m in a low mood and she keeps boosting to keep me going and crank some tunes. Couldn’t do it without her,” she said.

Like-wise for Smith who added, “We had a lot of fun. Christie is an awesome partner to have on the road for motivation. I wouldn’t have done it with anyone else.”

Smith was planning to celebrate the feat with a hot bath and go to bed early, noting the effort was worth it to raise awareness and funds for mental health.

“Mental health is really close to our hearts and something we are both really passionate about. This was just a motivator to the clients to show them you can do anything you put your mind to,” said Smith.

Smith is the centre’s program development manager and Wolanuk is the client program advisor who both walked from Saskatchewan to Lloydminster to raise funds for client services last year.

Looking ahead to next year, Smith said, “We were brainstorming how to top it as we were biking, but I don’t think we’re going to be bike enthusiasts any time.

“There were a lot of hills, more than we expected actually,” said Smith.

Wolanuk says she also had to change a couple of tires and tubes and adjust their seats.

She says it helped that “the closer we came this way a lot more people were honking and laying on their horns waving and everything.”

Lori Neufeld, Libbie’s executive director, drove one of the pilot vehicles along the route and talked about one scary moment.

“There was a bit of a dog incident where I thought I was going to have to run over a dog because they were trying to attack the bikers,” said Neufeld, adding some drivers are aggressive.

She says she is very proud of what the two women accomplished.

“They did 600 km on a bike and it was pretty challenging, especially today in the wind,” said Neufeld.

“You’ll never find more willing dedicated staff who will donate their personal time to what they believe in, which is mental health.”

She says the bike ride was intended to create awareness to start talking about mental health.

The Libbie Young offers mental health support services for people struggling with psychiatric illnesses and receives some funding from the Saskatchewan Health Authority for life skills and independent living programs.

“Our day program, which is where the funding from this event is going to, is mostly underfunded, so we’re just trying to supplement that program,” explained Neufeld.

Smith says the funds they raised will mean more resources to the clients and better opportunities and better equipment.

Libbie Young has also launched a new community outreach program where anybody in the community can reach out and ask to get support services in their home.

“There’s been a lot of mental issues that have resulted from COVID-19,” said Neufeld.

Mental health awareness carried over to a finale celebration at Gold Horse Casino on Saturday night. The casino and GFL Environmental were the two major sponsors of the bike fundraiser.

The event included a dinner and a fundraising raffle of items donated by local businesses with a keynote speech by Kaleb Dahlgren, a survivor of the Humboldt Broncos crash in 2018.

Neufeld called it another opportunity to talk about mental health and have a very inspirational story and open those lines of communication.

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Geoff Lee
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