The Calgary Flames Foundation has donated $25,000 in early October to Red Deer's Outreach Centre for mental health and suicide prevention initiatives to Central Albertan youth.

By Alessia Proietti

Mental health programs for Central Alberta youth

Flames Foundation donates $25,000 to The Outreach Centre

Nov 24, 2021 | 9:36 AM

The Calgary Flames Foundation has donated $25,000 to Red Deer’s Outreach Centre towards supporting mental health and suicide prevention school-based programs for Central Alberta youth.

Donated in early October, the funds were raised through the 50/50 program where raffle tickets are purchased on Calgary Flames game days; with half the proceeds going to charity and the other half going to the raffle winner.

The Centre reached out to the Flames Foundation through their Grant Application program, describing their close work with the four school divisions in Central Alberta.

“Their programming and communications are really supported by those school divisions and therefore administered to students,” said Candice Goudie, Executive Director of Charitable Foundations for the Flames Foundation. “Sometimes those resources are so important for all of us, whether we know it or not, and especially for students right now.”

The Outreach Centre offers youth mental health education seminars in classes from K-12. Topics are discussed based on age appropriateness, for example, puppets are used for kindergarten students, whereas Grade 8 students will be taught suicide warning signs. Classroom drop-ins are based on teacher requests and standardized presentations are tailored to the school’s specific needs.

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The Outreach Centre also provides online and in-person resources and classes at their Red Deer location for youth, adults, and for the workplace.

Dawn Atkins has worked for 30 years for the Suicide Information & Education Services in Red Deer, before its merger with the Women’s Outreach in April 2020, becoming today’s Outreach Centre.

“Mental health is kind of at the crux, again not with just the pandemic, but the wellbeing of our society. Our youth is of course where that starts and if we can have those youth well equipped as they move through in life, supporting each other and understanding the importance of obtaining and maintaining healthy coping skills and good mental health, I think we’re positioning ourselves for a healthier community overall,” she said.

While the donation is geared to reaching 7,000 students, the centre has visited up to 10,000 students in years past and intends to go even further with the new funds.

“We hope to be able to expand that and have a greater reach with this funding and greater accessibility to meet the needs of the schools in terms of supporting them, who are supporting their students,with mental health awareness; putting more tools in their toolboxes,” Atkins said.

The Outreach Centre serves students across Central Alberta, from rural to urban communities. The difference in the mental health climate, Atkins says, is that while urban municipalities have more access to resources, there is a larger sense of community in rural areas.

Over three decades, Atkins has seen technology add a stress for the mental health of youth in their communication with each other and views of themselves. However, the biggest change she’s noticed is the increase in mental health awareness and acknowledgement of its importance.

“The students feel more empowered. Because again, with technology, you hear things about mental health and think: well, is it true? So I think to have somebody come and talk really upfront about ‘this is what mental health is, this is what mental wellness is, this is what it looks like and the workings of it’, I think the kids are appreciating that information and feeling like they’re actually getting solid information to be able to use moving forward,” Atkins said.

As a result of the pandemic and with the help of the Flames Foundation’s donation, The Outreach Centre is placing the mental health of youth at the forefront, says Myles Peake, Director of Fund Development for the Centre.

“We’re just really grateful for the Flames Foundation, for their support in our initiatives to deliver the programming needed for the awareness and the mental health side of it,” he said.