Comox Valley fundraiser Dab & Donate to Mental Health exceeds $10,000 goal
Comox Valley RecordApr 08, 2017
On
The popular music bingo fundraiser has been held once a month at the Avalanche Bar&Grill, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to support Mental Health, Substance Use&Psychiatry Services at St. Joseph’s Hospital and the new
Each month, anywhere from 70 to 120 music bingo enthusiasts attended in hopes of winning dozens of prizes donated by local companies set to fun music, and all for a good cause.
“The event went way better than I imagined,” said
“When you first look at putting on a fundraiser, you think, ‘We’re going to do this and raise some money,’ but you don’t think about the exponential factors that happen once you do raise that money, and the impact it has.”
In total, Dab&Donate to Mental Health raised
, and funds raised have been used for: games, activities and Christmas gifts for patients staying in Psychiatry; a new computer in Psychiatry for creating resumes, looking for jobs and seeking out housing; and most recently the event paid for a Mental Health Professional Development Day on
Moldenhauer was able to tour psychiatry at St. Joseph’s with Dab&Donate organizers
“It was quite fascinating because they had over 20 staff and lots of speakers there,” he said about the professional development day. “Staff were able to get more education on mental health, which will then hopefully help patients in Psychiatry.”
“Originally we chose mental health at St. Joseph’s because there was a need to send staff to a specialized education conference and we wanted to help, so this means the event has come full circle because a lot of mental health staff were able to attend this professional development day, and that feels pretty good.”
On top of being able to purchase patient activities, items and staff education, Dab&Donate also created a much-needed platform to discuss local mental health needs while raising awareness in the community.
“There was a need at St. Joseph’s for mental health when we started this, and I feel after these six months that we really did a good job of meeting that need with this event, while also building awareness for mental health in the Comox Valley,” said organizer
“Our foundation and the staff at psychiatry are so thankful to Devin and Carmen for choosing mental health as their focus for Dab&Donate over these past six months,” added
“One in four Comox Valley residents are impacted by mental health issues, and B.C. has the highest rate in
After an overwhelmingly successful six-month run and reaching their goal of
“At the end of the day, it was a great event that many people enjoyed and raised a lot of money. People didn’t want it to end,” Moldenhauer said.
“I’m happy that we reached