#MindYourMentalHealth: Mental Health First Aid 

We find it acceptable, to a certain extent, for older people to talk about their every ailment - bowel movement frequency, medication regimen, colitis episodes, etc. We all discuss headaches, soreness, allergies, while freely disclosing complete medical history in doctor’s office waiting rooms, well, almost complete medical histories. 

We’re taught mind-body-soul early, and we learn to exercise and some of us, how to pray, but the health of our mind is not considered, and definitely not openly discussed except under the socially acceptable “self-care”. Do we even know a complete mental health history of those in our families? Probably not - It’s been taboo.

Treating mental illness is a whole new ballgame

It’s a warm spring evening in Charlotte, and a perfect night for baseball.

10,197 fans make their way into BB&T Ballpark to watch the Knights play the Norfolk Tides. But there’s more going on in the stadium than baseball and dizzy bat races.

In the stands that night sit 713 adults battling major depression — a full 7% of the crowd.

They’re not sitting in special sections. Or wearing brightly colored shirts.

They look, and act, and seem like everyone else in the crowd that night. But for many, there’s an untold sadness behind their eyes. A pain, that for whatever reason, they’ve been unable to shake. 

Mental illness is invisible. That’s what makes it so challenging. You can see a broken leg, you know what needs to be done to fix it. But someone’s mental health? 

National Volunteer Week, known locally as DO GOOD Week is a time to focus on the ways in which we can give GOOD to our community through the gift of donated time. Check out the infographic to see how Charlotte volunteers activated during this year’s DO GOOD Week (April 15-21). It doesn’t matter how you give your time or when, just that you do.

DO GOOD Week concluded on Saturday,  April 21st with SHARE Charlotte’s signature VolunBEERing event at NoDa Brewing Co. Watch the video below for a recap of all the GOOD that happened at VolunBEERing:

Gina McGourty took an already GOOD deed and turned it into a GREAT one. 

As a part of DO GOOD Week, our sponsor Duke Energy generously gave away a night in their Luxury Suite at BB&T Ballpark to one lucky winner. To be entered to win the contest, you had to sign up for a volunteer opportunity on that given day of DO GOOD Week and at the end of the evening a winner was chosen at random from the list of volunteers who gave their time to GOOD.

The contest winner, Gina McGourty, signed up for two volunteer opportunities that day, already exceeding the requirements of the contest, volunteering to give her time to both ACEing Austism and Classroom Central. When we contacted Gina to let her know the good news, we were shocked by her response.