A request

First of all - a shout out to Green Tea MN, who wrote a very thoughtful post about mental health care and the lack of it in this country, and also plugged my event, AND then sent a donation.

Last year, a number of you were kind enough to support an event I put on at work - specifically, a walk to raise money to help us keep on the lights, and help us send the message that mental health care is important.

Like many others, our state is looking at unprecedented budget cuts, which means more people in crisis will be turning to my organization, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Oregon, for help.

Everything we do is offered free of charge: mental health referrals, support groups for individuals living with mental illness, and their families, education classes that empower and inform.

This is a personal cause for me: mental illness of varying degrees runs through my family. I have lived with anxiety since I was 6, and have had times of severe depression my entire adult life. I have been blessed with the support of loving family and friends, and the access to services I needed.

But many people have neither - and by supporting this cause, you help us change that.

My walk team is named for my late, dear friend Ward, a kind soul and a friend to all who knew him. Ward never received proper mental health care and I am walking and raising money in his honor, to help NAMI Oregon fulfill its mission of improving the lives of people living with mental illness and their loved ones.

As always, we never share your information with any other agency, and we never add you to our own donation or mail lists. Ninety percent of the money raised stays right here where you send it.

You can go directly to this link to make a donation, or if you prefer to send a check, leave me a comment with your e-mail address.

Any donation will make a difference. $5 or $10 would be great! Thank you, and wish me luck! (Lucky is already helping...see above.)