CREDIT: MELISSA NOVACASKA
Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) Advocacy and Communications Co-ordinator, Jahmoyia Smith, helped choose the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) as this semester's charity partnership. The FSU will hold events throughout the semester to not only raise funds, but also awareness for mental health.

The Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) as their charity of choice this semester.

The FSU chooses a different charity each semester and has events to not only raise money for a certain cause, but also raise awareness for the issue on hand.

This year, the FSU executive team decided to work with the CMHA for the fall semester and have plans to raise a great amount of funds, but an even greater amount of awareness for mental health.

According to FSU Advocacy and Communications Co-ordinator, Jahmoyia Smith, this year the team came up with a goal to try and be “the most mentally well college in all of Ontario”, and plan to work as best as they can do try and reach this goal.

To help reach this goal, the team came together and decided the CMHA would be their charity of choice for the fall semester.

According to Smith, there are a number of different reasons why this particular charity was chosen.

“We decided that the Canadian Mental Health Association would be best, one because most of their services are free to students, they provide so many services for parents, students and staff with so many different opportunities, [and two], they have a lot of partnerships with the community, with different branches such as My Sister's Place,” Smith said.

Smith said the FSU reached out to the CMHA, who we're excited to get on board since it is a partnership with a student union, and the organization liked the proposal the FSU provided for why this partnership would be a great opportunity.

According to Smith, the CMHA offers any sorts of donation, whether it be big or small.

Throughout the semester, Smith said there will be a few different ways in which the FSU will raise funds and awareness for mental health, including an orientation BBQ that was held over two days during move-in weekend at the beginning of September.

“[The BBQ] was really successful, we made over $2,000 that all goes to the charity,” Smith said.

According to Smith, other events the FSU will hold include a sticker campaign, where each sticker (with the design concept still in the works) will cost $1 and go on a wall with funds going towards the CMHA. There will also be donation boxes located around the school and one other event will take place, though details are still in the works.

Smith plans to have the sticker campaign run for the entire month of October.

According to Smith, the idea behind the events is to show students that the partnership with the CMHA is not just about raising money for the organization, but to get word out and let people know that there are mental health resources both on campus and in the community that can help them if they need it. There are also some CMHA pamphlets and self-help keychains available in the FSU office for students, if they would like them.

This partnership also shows that the FSU has ties with the greater community and it “tailored to the needs of students,” since mental health is a “huge piece” of their lives, especially during post-secondary education, Smith said.

“It's very important, it's all about raising awareness and not necessarily just the money, so students just need to know and see their mark that we're doing something in the community,” Smith said.

Smith said the FSU's fundraising goal for the entire year is $10,000 (half for each semester).

Though the goal is a big one, Smith is positive about the FSU trying to reach it.

“[We're] two tenth of the way there [just] from our orientation BBQ which is not too bad because it was just two days and I feel like can do it this year we just need a little extra push and if we don't make it to the full 10, we can maybe make it to at least six or seven.”

For more information on the partnership between the FSU and CMHA, please visit fsu.ca and cmha.ca.