Skip to main content

Help Michael raise money

For participating in 2024 BMO Vancouver Marathon

My Story…

We are SO back!

As many of you know, last year I set out to run my first half-marathon to celebrate improvements in my Ulcerative Colitis (UC), after being diagnosed about two years prior. I ran the race in support of the Canadian Mental Health Association - Vancouver Fraser. Having adequate access to mental health resources like counselling and peer support programs helped me get better. CMHA provides those resources to people who don't have the same access to those resources as I do. After hearing my story, the folks at CMHA named me as the Captain of their team. I ran the race in ~1:41, raising over $4,000 to support CMHA.

About two months after running that race, I fell into another UC flare-up. It's been a hard eight months. But I am finally back to being able to run again, and I could not be more grateful for my health. Progress isn't a straight line; it has ups and downs. I continue to reflect on how grateful I am to have adequate access to mental health resources. 

A donation to CMHA is a donation to share mental health resources with those among us who are most vulnerable. Any amount helps, and I am perpetually grateful for my friends' and family's support, both for me in my health journey, and CMHA's amazing cause.

Description

One of our goals is to support youth mental health early, to give them tools to support their life and most importantly, let them know they aren’t alone in their fight. Whether this was your story as a teen or now, or you saw a family member struggle with mental health and weren’t sure what to do, running for CMHA-VF is a commitment to making the Vancouver Fraser community better.

You are pounding the pavement anyway, and doing it as a mental health ally with a great song pushing you forward will have more impact than you can imagine. You can be the match that lights a child up and lets them know they have a lot of fight left in them.

Join us.

Recent donors

Donation date Donor name Donation amount
Apr 01 Debbie & Stephen Ryder What a wonderful young man $107.72
Apr 01 Marnie Rusen ❤️ $107.72
Apr 01 Naomi Good luck and thank you for supporting such a wonderful cause $54.31
Apr 01 Cheryl and Rob Milner Way to go Michael! $100.00
Apr 01 Beth and Rob Ordman $180.00
Mar 31 Arlene & David Holmes What a great cause! You are doing wonderful things Michael. $193.18
Mar 31 Maureen Popiolek Wishing you much luck and a path forward to better health Micheal. Undisclosed amount
Mar 31 Karen Parker Amazing accomplishment for a great cause Undisclosed amount
Mar 30 Anonymous Michael, what a beautiful way to pay it forward. Best of luck, our thoughts are with you. Undisclosed amount
Mar 30 Will Nelson $27.60