In October 2014, I lost my son to suicide after a long and very secret battle with depression. So secret, in fact, that only he knew of his illness until the day of his death. Upon his passing, Lucas’s peers shared countless stories of him initiating conversations,...
This year, World Suicide Prevention Day falls on Sunday, September 10. According to the WSPD website, more than 800,000 people die by suicide, and up to 25 times as many make a suicide attempt, each year. According to statistics provided by the Canadian Association...
The Lucas Fiorella Friendship Bench is pleased to announce a partnership with the Ontario College Student Alliance (CSA) to promote improved mental health among Ontario’s college students. The CSA is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works collaboratively...
Break dance? Belly dance? Ballet? Ballroom? Doesn’t matter – the results are in and be with a pair of two left feet or otherwise, dance has been proven to improve your overall mood and your mental health. A meta-analysis of 23 international studies on the effects of...
Today is #WorldHelloDay and so I thought it only appropriate that today’s #MentalHealthMonday post focus on the power of “hello.” “Hello” is more than the utterance of simple greeting. In a world that’s engulfed in conflict and divisiveness, a HELLO represents an...
For this week's #MentalHealthMonday tip, I want to talk to parents directly. As parents, we tend to want to build walls around our kids, to encase them in bubble wrap, and to protect them at all costs. However, we’ve learned that kids must learn from their mistakes...
We enjoy - and are grateful for - every unveiling ceremony for The Lucas Fiorella Friendship Bench and #YellowIsForHello student mental health campaign that we participate in. Each has it's unique character, story, and memories. Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo...
St. Mary's College in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario was the 3rd consecutive unveiling in as many weeks for The Lucas Fiorella Friendship Bench as we enter our second scholastic year attempting to paint the country yellow for student mental health awareness. . St....
What a wonderful celebration of students and positive mental health that we experienced yesterday! Centennial College launched its first Friendship Bench and #YellowIsForHello mental health campaign at its Story Arts Centre campus in Toronto, ON. Before the...
This week our team visited Fletcher's Meadow Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario to officially unveil The Lucas Fiorella Friendship Bench and our #YellowIsForHello campaign. The school's principal, Dana Sheahan, Siobahn Catalano, and the student mental health...