During October 21-27, 2011 Mike Stashin an Ottawa based runner completed the challenge of running 7 marathons in 7 consecutive days within the Ottawa area. The 295km run ]was used to raise awareness and donations for Youth Net/Réseau Ado (YN/RA), a mental health promotion and intervention program run by youth, for youth delivered through the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).

The event was a success on all fronts including $10020.00 raised to date for YouthNet programs!! Thanks so much to everyone involved and for your donations!!

YN/RA helps youth ages 13 to 20 develop and maintain positive mental health as well as healthy coping strategies for managing stress, while decreasing stigma around mental illness and its treatment. YN/RA does this through education and intervention.

The need for such a program is now more evident than ever. Research shows that 1 in 5 children and youth between the ages of 4-16 live with some type of mental illness and only 1 out of 6 will receive some type of service (Canadian Psychiatric Association).

Through focus groups, presentations and group initiatives, YN/RA provides services to over 5000 youth participants yearly. Within these programs, participants gain insight and knowledge about mental health/mental illness, available community resources and ways to help themselves or a friend in a time of need.

The reality is that YN/RA operates on a very limited budget and is often forced to limit the number of services it can offer and the total number of youth that can benefit from these services. YN/RA service capacity is directly proportional to the generosity of the Ottawa community and 100% of all fund raised dollars goes straight into programming.