Determined parents pedal for change, compassion, and resources for mental health
Port Coquitlam, BC—Ginny Dennehy is a wife, a mother, and a force to be reckoned with. This year, the 62-year-old marked Mother’s Day by setting out on a 8,000-kilometre, cross-Canada cycle journey with husband Kerry to raise funds and awareness for mental health.
Ginny and Kerry Dennehy will cycle across Canada to create resources for youth living with depression and mental illness. Ginny’s book is Choosing Hope: A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss and Survival.
“This ride is deeply important to us, as charity fundraisers and as parents,” says Ginny. “Since we lost our son Kelty to depression-related suicide, we have worked to ensure that young people—and families—do not have to endure the same trauma.”
Ginny and Kerry founded The Kelty Patrick Dennehy Foundation after they lost their 17-year-old son in 2001. Called Enough Is Enough, the Whistler, British Columbia to Cape Spear, Newfoundland bicycle trip is just their latest effort to raise enough funds to create walk-in resource facilities in each of the provinces they pedal through.
Says Ginny, “Each turn of the wheel says ‘Enough Is Enough’ to the stigma attached to mental illness, to a lack of resources for sufferers, and to losing our children, friends, and family members to the disease.”
The Dennehy’s aim for the May to August 2013 ride is to raise $1 million towards their final goal: to establish a Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre in every province and territory in Canada. All funds raised during Enough Is Enough will remain in the province it was received in.
Live to Play Sports staff host Enough Is Enough fund-raiser
John Williams and Shelly Cox led Live to Play Sports staff to donate more $1000 to the Enough Is Enough effort.
On Day 2 of their journey, the Dennehys, family members, and guest Olympic athlete Ashleigh McIvor rolled into Live to Play Sports’ Port Coquitlam offices for a send-off barbeque. Staff organizer Shelly Cox and her team took time out of their lunch to grill burgers and collect donations from coworkers while Ginny, Kerry, and Ashleigh mingled with staff.
The Live to Play Sports staff proved to be both very hungry and very generous: within an hour they donated in excess of $500, and company president John Williams doubled the amount to more than $1000 by matching the previous contributions.
Norco Bicycles and almost a dozen Live to Play Sports suppliers also stepped forward to support the Dennehys with fully equipped Norco Valence bicycles.
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