Making a difference one kilometer at a time.
The family of Emily Taylor know all too well the heartache that can come when a loved one has mental health issues. In 2013, Emily tragically lost her life due to the challenges she was experiencing. Her family was devastated but instead of letting their loss cause them more suffering, they decided to turn Emily’s story into one of hope by creating Emily’s Memorial Motorcycle Ride for Mental Health Awareness.
On Saturday June 3rd, SMS Equipment was proud to support the 2nd Annual Emily’s Memorial Motorcycle Ride to raise awareness for CASA (Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health) Foundation.
This important foundation was established in 1998 to help families and especially children and adolescents deal with mental health issues.
This years’ event began at CASA House in Sherwood Park where riders travelled close to 100 kilometers to Viking, Alberta before returning to CASA House for a dinner and celebration.
The funds raised for CASA Foundation go directly to support CASA House. CASA House is a specialized in-patient residential program that supports teens with significant mental health and/or addiction challenges. It uses a family-centred, evidence- based treatment approach to support both therapeutic and educational goals to help kids get back on their feet. Funds from this year’s event will be used to help pay for residential patients to go on recreational outings such as movies or special events as well as support outdoor upgrades to CASA House.
Shaun Bale, Marketing Coordinator with SMS Equipment in Acheson is very proud of SMS Equipment’s association with CASA and Emily’s Memorial Motorcycle Ride: “I think it’s great that our company has been so involved with important programs in our communities,” says Bale. “It makes me both happy and proud that SMS Equipment is willing to support organizations such as CASA, and support mental health research, education and clinical treatment.”
We would like to acknowledge how important Emily’s Motorcycle Ride and CASA are to our family of employees, especially to Shaun Bale who is an active volunteer in our community. This cause was brought forward by Shaun and we feel privileged to be able to support organizations that our employees believe in. It not only makes us proud as a company, we believe it makes all of us stronger.
