TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
The Raise Your Voice Club (RYV) at Merrill High School (MHS) is organizing their First Annual “Raise Your Voice for Mental Health” Walk to raise awareness of mental health, to reduce the stigma around talking about mental health issues, to support those who struggle with mental health issues, and to Raise their Voices to start talking about those issues. MHS Raise Your Voice Club joins together with Tyler’s Playground and the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) to present this event.
This year’s Mental Health Walk is to “End the Stigma for Tyler” and is dedicated to the memory of Tyler Holbach who lost his struggle with mental illness when he took his own life on December 29, 2017, at the age of 20.
The Mental Health Walk will take place on May 2 at Kitchenette Park in Merrill, with check-in registration beginning at 12:30 p.m. and the walk to start at 1:00 p.m. Choose either the 2.5-mile route or the 1-mile route. Parking will be available at the park or the library.
Cost is $20 for adults, $10 for kids, and paid participants will receive a t-shirt and gift bag.
While you can register for the Walk up to the time of start, the Club is asking people to pre-register in advance at: https://maps.ticketspice.com/raise-your-voice-walk-spring to ensure they order t-shirts in the correct sizes for participants. Otherwise, you may just get a t-shirt that isn’t in your preferred size.
In addition to walking, the event will include a silent auction, music, and everyone age 18+ who registers for the event will be included in a drawing for a getaway to Wisconsin Dells valued at $400+. Masks and social distancing are requested at the event.
If you do not wish to walk, but want to donate, monetary donations will also be accepted, either online using the above url or at the event.
In the event of bad weather, the event will be moved to the Merrill Area Recreation Complex (MARC).
If you have any questions contact Mrs. Allie Libbey, MHS school counselor, at [email protected] or call 715.536.4594, ext. 18017.
The Raise Your Voice Club is a student-run organization at Merrill High School that seeks to end the stigma around mental health, advocate for change, share resources, and support others. It currently has around 70 members that have gone through training on mental health and are working to grow the Club’s impact. They believe opening up the conversation around mental health is very important and will benefit themselves and others. The proceeds from this event will be given to Tyler’s Playground, a play area dedicated to Tyler Holbach and NAMI. Both organizations support the RYV club mission and work to make change.
Participants are asked to wear a mask and practice social distancing during the event.