Residents of southern Alberta are invited to take part in an evening to help raise money and awareness for youth mental health with The Summit Night on Mar. 13.
The event will take place at the Gibson Fine Art Gallery from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased online by visiting www.eventbrite.ca. The event will host food, drinks, a slient auction, and live music by Jay Coda Walker.
All proceeds from the event will be dedicated to The Summit, through the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
Organizer of the event, Anaya Farell, explained that The Summit is a program provided through Alberta Health Services that provides assistance to families with children that are experiencing mental health troubles.
“So before, if you had a child that was struggling with mental health, the only thing you could really do is just go to the Children’s Hospital and you could be waiting for however many hours,” Farell explained “And if they didn’t admit you, they’d pretty much turn you away with nothing. Like, you wouldn’t have any resources or anything.”
With the introduction of The Summit, it provides walk-in services for any child in trouble without the wait that is associated with a hospital.
Farell said her journey with The Summit started after her daughter Raquel committed suicide in June of 2020. The Summit First opened in 2022, and soon after Farell became part of their family advisory council.
“I’ve seen what they’re doing, and I was impressed that I though it would be really nice to put on a charity event to bring awareness to both The Summit because a lot of people have no idea that it even exists,” Farell said.
Farell said this is also playing a part in her healing process. She hopes that her efforts help bring more awareness to the topic of youth mental health, while championing The Summit to help prevent families from going through what she experienced.
“One of the other things I’m looking to bring awareness on is a piece on stockpiling,” Farell said. “My daughter suffered from mental health for about six to seven years, and when it came on there was no improvement whatsoever,” she said. “I do feel like she fell through the cracks.”
Farell said that with Raquel taking several anti-depressants, it was eventually revealed that she was stockpiling her medication.
“Not once did a doctor, pharmacist, psychiatrist, nobody warned me about the dangers of stockpiling,” she said. “I didn’t even know it was a thing until it happened.”
Farell said she brought up the topic with the chief pediatric psychologist in Calgary, but has not received an answer as to why nobody is warning parents about this risk.
“I am just really frustrated, and I feel like I wasn’t in a place to talk about it before, but I feel now that I’m definitely in a place to get this message out,” Farell said.
