Mental health advocacy celebrated at run for Strong Minds

More than 100 residents braved the rain Saturday morning and gathered at the Machine Shop for the 6th annual Run for Change hosted by Strong Minds.

As part of Children’s Mental Health Week, the event raises funds and awareness for area mental health issues and services.

Whether they chose to walk or run, the 5-km route took participants along the waterfront and boardwalk.

Strong Minds CEO Amanda Lambert was thrilled with Saturday’s turnout. She says the run is a great way towards eliminating the stigma surrounding mental health.

“People are finally beginning to understand how important mental health is,” she says. “It’s becoming more known for individuals because we’ve just been through the pandemic. We have a mental health crisis and Run for Change is a movement to help end the stigma that’s associated around that.”

Lambert says funds raised from the event will go towards a variety of mental health initiatives in the community.

“We don’t pick one particular agency,” she says. “We believe throughout the year, there are multiple agencies who need the help. When we go through the year and have our meetings with community partners, if something comes up where they’re needing something, we’re there to support that.”

Meanwhile, around 30 employees from Algoma Steel took part in Saturday’s run, including Andy Haidar who finished the route in first place with an impressive time of 17 minutes and 14 seconds.

His wife Erika also finished first among all the female participants. They’re both incredibly thankful for the friendships they’ve made with other runners.

“We have a really great running community in Sault Ste. Marie,” he says. “There’s lots of different areas we like to run, like the Hub Trail, Hiawatha, and the boardwalk.”

“We’re part of Sault Striders, which is a running group in the Sault,” Erika adds. “We’re members there and we have some really great leaders.”

Despite the wet conditions, Lambert says she couldn’t have asked for a better result.

“People who are impacted by or support mental health, rain or shine, it wouldn’t stop them from being here,” she says. “It’s getting bigger every year. This year, we reached a really great audience with our sponsorships and volunteers. Without them, we would not have been able to make this day happen."