NEWS
Helping Hands for Mental Health
HUG IT OUT Seniors Emily Rine, Munachi Okuagu and Reilly Jackoboice embrace senior Helen Willis as she enters the fundraiser Nov. 3 at Chicken N Pickle. LET’S TALK ABOUT IT Seniors Phoebe Mullen, Helen Willis and Caroline Ehren chat in line while they wait to purchase a ticket for All Hands in KC.
Local high school students raised thousands of dollars for better services in schools after seeing a need for change.
illness. They discussed the stigma regarding mental health, and various ways to not only help others who may be struggling but to help oneself in the event of a mental health crisis. BY MAGGIE MCKINNEY “At the event they talked about how just breathing slowly, talking to REPORTER therapists, talking to an adult, just making sure a person knows they are not alone,” senior Reilly Jackoboice said. “It is so important and I think everyone Students, educators, and mental health advocates alike all gathered needs to know that.” Nov. 3 for the All Hands In KC fundraiser at Chicken N Pickle and raised The event had 400 attendees and raised $55,000 dollars in total, over $55,000 for local nonprofits that provide schools with mental health according to All Hands In KC founder Christian Taylor. Taylor, a senior at resources. Rockhurst High School, organized the event after he saw the effect of teenage The event’s goal was to address the stigma surrounding depression and suicide on his community and realized that something anxiety in adolescents and to connect teenagers and needed to be done. their parents to 25 local therapists and other resources. FROM THE EVENT: “This was an issue that I felt wasn’t being addressed Focusing on the need to combat teenage suicide rates, correctly and wasn’t being addressed enough,” Taylor said. all money raised went toward charities that are based 400 attended the event “So I wanted to step in, as a teen, and make a difference.” around providing mental health programming for Twenty-eight student representatives from 15 schools high schools in the area, including Zero Reasons Why, $55,000 in the Kansas City area, including Rockhurst High School, The Harrison Rupp Foundation, and Speak Up KC. raised for mental health St. Teresa’s Academy, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, “This is a topic that is notorious for being swept and The Pembroke Hill School, volunteered with All under the rug,” senior Munachi Okuagu said. “And it Hands In KC, including Okuagu and Jackoboice. was time for change and for people to speak up about this problem.” “Having kids from 15 different high schools just really made me sit One ticket cost $10 and pickleball teams could sign up for $50, with the back and realize how big of a problem suicide is and how we as a group can proceeds going directly to the charity of their choice. Attendees were given a do something about it,” Jackoboice said. “That was very special to me.” ticket to participate in a raffle of their choice, with items such as a Patagonia The organizers and event as a whole emphasized the need to make a jacket, an all-expense paid trip to Colorado, and two tickets to the Truman positive change in the Kansas City community that would last, according to Amphitheatre for any show. Guests also had the opportunity to have a meal, Jackoboice. The speakers, student representatives, and attendees left the event play yard games, and talk to various organizations about resources regarding with resources and tools to better address mental health and teenage suicide teenage suicide prevention and mental health. and make an impact in their schools. “There were various guest speakers and experts on the topic of mental “I think this event was the first step of many,” Okuagu said. “Now that the illness,” Okuagu said, “to give students and parents advice on how to deal with glass ceiling has finally been shattered and people are starting to speak up, I it and how to recognize it early on.” know it won’t stop here.” The speakers included therapists and parents affected by teenage mental
Senior Phoebe Mullen “One of the speakers emphasized that going to a therapist was important, but there are other steps that you can take before that.”
Senior Caroline Ehren “So many people came out to support. A speaker even mentioned that she had never seen so much support at an event like this before.”
Senior Reilly Jackoboice “Hearing from the speakers and getting their tips was great. I think it’s really important to be talking about this. Especially now.” DECEMBER 2019
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