I'm skiing to create awareness and remove the stigma of asking for help. I wouldnt be here today if therapy and other mental health support wasnt available to me. Many friends wouldnt be here either.

From my early teenage years, I have battled depression. It took years for me to be able to talk to friends and to finally ask for help. To say out loud, I needed help. I finally found the help and support I needed through therapy and EMDR. The more I talked about it with friends, the more I found out I was not alone. When we can normalize the conversation about mental health, we create a safer community! We are better! We are stronger! So I will always support mental health services, especially in a valley where the struggles are bigger and more often, but the stigma to admit you need help is huge. Having these services available literally saves lives in this valley! And there are a lot of amazing people that I want to be here for a long time!!

It's time to come together to ski and ride in support of mental health with Make Change, a CB State of Mind fundraiser in partnership with ACE Hardware-Crested Butte, Crux Pilates, Western Colorado University and Tully's.

I am collecting pledges at a rate of ONE PENNY per vertical foot of skiing/riding, or let's be honest, waterskiing, I do on March 29th to raise money for mental health awareness and support CB State of Mind in their efforts to increase access to care, reduce stigma, and promote community connections across the Gunnison Valley.

But wait... they got rid of the penny. So let's do better! How about 10 cents per vertical foot of skiing/riding I do on March 29th?

Did you know ten dimes equals a dollar?

How about one dollar for every vertical foot of skiing/riding I do on March 29th?

ANY pledge amount, of course, is APPRECIATED!

Will you join me and pledge 10¢ for every vertical foot I ski/ride? Together, we can make sure no one in the Gunnison Valley faces a mental health crisis alone.