Covington Rotary Club presents the 7th Annual Quack-A-Falaya this Saturday, June 26, 2021. The Rubber Duck Race Fundraiser benefits the Boys and Girls Club of Covington, Keep Covington Beautiful, Miracle League Northshore, NAMI, Pontchartrain Conservancy, Safe Harbor, Save Haven and the Covington Rotary Foundation.
The race begins 8 a.m. at the Bogue Falaya Park, ducks are $20 apiece. The fastest 10 ducks win a prize; Grand Prize is $1000 (need not be present to win). The Covington Rotary Club is a service organization that joins the efforts of over 1.2 million men and women worldwide in addressing the needs of local communities. Ducks and further information can be found at covrotary.org.
For the past three years, NAMI St. Tammany has populated the beautiful Mandeville Lakefront with hundreds of walkers, showing support for mental health awareness, advocacy, and support, growing larger each year.
With the impacts of COVID-19, our daily lives and routines have been interrupted, leaving uncertainty, anxiety, added stress and often depression. Many individuals living with a mental illness are struggling to maintain their recovery while others are experiencing mental health symptoms for the first time. We are just beginning to see the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health. Now, more than ever, we want to show our community during the pandemic that “You are not alone.”
Unable to rally as usual this year, we have chosen to bring our 4th Annual NAMIWalks St. Tammany event to a virtual platform. On Saturday, October 10th, NAMI St. Tammany joins over 70 NAMIWalks virtual events across the country uniting for “A National Day of Hope” to show solidarity in our mission to increase awareness for mental health and recovery.
A Virtual Walk means you get to choose how you want to participate. How do you practice self-care? Take a walk around your neighborhood, share your story on social media, or host a virtual yoga party. Get creative to show your advocacy and support.
We invite everyone to join us, wherever you are, to remind our community that mental health matters and resources are available to help. Together we will continue to work toward our goal of #MentalHealthforAll.
Saturday, October 10th – NAMIWalks St. Tammany Online
Register for free or donate at: www.namiwalks.org/sttammany. For more information, call (985)626-6538 or email walks@namisttammany.org
To learn more about NAMI St. Tammany, the resources we provide to the community, or to get involved, visit our website at namisttammany.org.
United Way of Southeast Louisiana awarded $30,000 to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) – St. Tammany and VIA LINK, Inc./2-1-1 in St. Tammany to support their suicide prevention, mental health services, and crisis response efforts. The funding was made possible through the 2018 Red Beans ‘N’ rice cook-offs held in west and east St. Tammany.
L to R: Michael Williamson (UWSELA CEO), Gene Bellisario (UWSELA volunteer), Ken Johnston (UWSELA volunteer), Bill Brady (UW Leadership Council), Sonja Newman (UWSELA Resource Development Manager), Matt Faust (UWSELA Leadership Council), Major Wharton Muller (STPSO), LaVondra Dobbs (VIA LINK/2-1-1 CEO), Nick Richard (NAMI St. Tammany CEO), Jan Robert (NAMI STP Board Member), Deputy Jessica Roden (STPSO Crisis Intervention Team), Richard Kramer (UWSELA Leadership Council), Deputy David Landrum (STPSO Crisis Intervention Team).
The Covington Police Department is proud to have partnered with NAMI St. Tammany to bring in nationally recognized instructor Joseph Coffey to teach our officers Mental Health First Aid. Much like we train regularly on CPR techniques, I believe it is important to stay on top of the best practices in dealing with those suffering from mental illness.
Joe is from Rhode Island and co-authored the “Mental Health First Aid (USA) Public Safety Module” and presents this course throughout the country for the National Council for Behavioral Health. Joe is a retired captain for the Warwick Police Dept in Rhode Island. Through his testimony at Congressional staff meetings and local legislative forums, Joe was instrumental in making Rhode Island the first state to mandate Mental Health First Aid training for all law enforcement officers.
A special thanks to Nick and Cindy with NAMI St. Tammany for facilitating this first class training for our officers.
– Chief Tim Lentz
