WallStreet Journal / April 11, 2013
San Diego County Annual 5K NAMI Walk to be held this Saturday at Point Loma Liberty Station
Calling all walkers! The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI San Diego and NAMI North Coastal) is holding their annual walk on Saturday, April 13 at NTC Park in Liberty Station and wants you there!
The walk starts at 9 am Saturday with check-in beginning at 7:30 am at NTC Park in Liberty Station at 2455 Cushing Road, San Diego, CA 92106.
Media personality Geni Cavitt will be the emcee for the event. “A lot of people there know how I feel about NAMI so I’m happy to do it,” said Cavitt, who has more than 20 years of experience in communications and broadcast journalism and is a champion of mental health in the community.
In addition to Cavitt, the musical group, The Lyrical Groove, will be performing at the walk. The Lyrical Groove is a spoken word, jazz influenced, hip-hop at the heart, gospel soul infused band that bridges all of these genres with meaningful lyrics with a dynamic performance. Their inspiration-latent lyrics reflect a social consciousness and a spiritual awareness that make for a refreshing experience.
The San Diego County NAMI Walk will also feature a free health resource fair with 75 booths and a children’s game area. NAMI would like to thank all the wonderful sponsors of the walk, especially their major sponsor, Behavioral Health Services-County of San Diego.
The San Diego County NAMI Walk is the organization’s biggest fundraiser and the goal for the 2013 walk is 4,000 walkers, 100 teams and $150,000 raised for program in San Diego County that address education and support for those with a mental illness and their families, and educational programs for the general community.
In 2012, NAMI walkers helped raise financial support to augment NAMI family and corporate outreach services and programs. These include free support groups, educational classes, newsletters, outreach presentations, and the helpline.
“To put it in perspective, 750,000 people in San Diego live with a mental health challenge–that’s enough to fill QualComm Stadium ten times,” said Shannon Jaccard, NAMI San Diego CEO. “In our nation, one in four people experience mental illness in their lifetime. The San Diego County NAMI Walk not only raises money to help address mental illness in our city, but is also a huge stigma-buster of a disease that is widely misunderstood. This walk brings hoe, healing and understanding as thousands gather together to make a statement with their feet and their hearts.”
There is no fee to participate in the walk. To register online, please visit www.namiwalks.org/SanDiegoCounty. For offline help, call NAMI San Diego at (619) 584-5564.
Contact: Sue SkubeCommunity Development DirectorOffice: 619-398-8557Cell (day of event): 619-203-8541sueskube@namisd.org
SOURCE National Alliance on Mental Illness San Diego
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