Mental Health Message Cycled Home

The local Ride Don’t Hide event was even more successful than first thought.

The cycling event last month raised over 58-thousand dollars for Canadian Mental Health programs in Greater Vernon.

The Bannister Family recently donated 12-thousand dollars to support the team (Liam’s Lunar Monkey’s) riding in the memory of 2016 suicide victim Liam Hack of Coldstream.

That makes them the top fundraising team in Canada, and pushes the event’s total to over 58-thousand dollars.

Pictured: Liam Hack

“Our family is so touched to see how the community has come out to support mental health in honour of Liam,” said Liam’s parents, Jay Hack and Sheila Stainton. “We wanted to share our story to create the discussion about youth suicide in our community and continue to help break down the stigma. It is our hope that by sharing our story and raising funds to expand mental health services in our community that we can prevent other families from experiencing a similar loss.”

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15 to 24 year-olds in BC, after motor vehicle accidents.