Everyone wins at Rotary Club competition

By Paul Forman

The Bank Theatre hosted this year’s Tackling Mental Health for Youth Pitch Competition put on by the Rotary Club of Leamington as three applicants vied for the $10,000 prize for the best initiative to help local youth dealing with mental health issues.

South Essex Community Council received the $10,000 cheque from the Rotary Club of Leamington for winning the Tackling Mental Health for Youth Pitch Competition. Pictured from the left, Rotary past president Charlene Houle, SECC executive director Carolyn Warkentin, Vicki Noland, Hailey Toth and Rotary president Wendy Parsons.

The March 22 event was adjudicated by five Rotary members as they heard proposals from Tapping and Drumming for Youth, South Essex Community Council (SECC) and the Youth Wellness Hub of Windsor-Essex.

South Essex Community Council was judged to be the winner of the competition and will use the funds to add another weekly day of programming that specifically seeks to develop emotional literacy in children aged 10 to 14.

Devon Edh, a youth worker with SECC, was ecstatic with the new funding coming their way saying, “It’s amazing, we will be able to give our youth new opportunities and their mental health will be taken seriously.”

The local Rotarians dropped a big surprise on the applicants and the audience as they announced unexpectedly that Tapping and Drumming for Youth and the Youth Wellness Hub of Windsor-Essex would also be receiving $5,000 dollars each from the Rotary Club.

Rotary Club President Wendy Parsons indicated that this year’s theme addresses a big need in the local area and challenges other service clubs to match the Rotarians funding for youth mental health initiatives.

Operations Manager Michelle Rocheleau of the Youth Wellness Hub of Windsor-Essex described how her organization was seeking competition funds to offer holistic supports and care for youth in Leamington.

Sponsors that assisted in the Youth Pitch Competition included Libro Credit Union, Gabriele Furniture, Reid Funeral Home, the Municipality of Leamington, Leamington BIA, The Bank Theatre, Insight Advantage, Cody Krause Realtor and Southern Logistics.

The Rotarians look forward to their next big fundraising event as they host Walk, Wine and Dine taking place in Leamington’s urban core on June 15.

On left, Janice Founk and Linda Collard spoke about the mental benefits for young people during their Tapping and Drumming for Youth presentation.