Mental Health America thanks community for support

To the Editor:

On July 26, Mental Health America of Putnam County held its annual "Mind Your Health" 5-mile run/2-mile walk for the 10th consecutive year.

We continue to be very pleased by the participation of the local community and the participants from outside of our community in this annual event. We are already looking forward to our 11th year in 2015.

Without our participants and sponsors, we wouldn't have a race and would find it more difficult to continue our mission in Putnam County. We sincerely thank everyone who participated in our fundraiser, their generosity allows us to providing quality programs in Putnam County. Thank you all for helping us to help others.

MHAPC strives to promote mental wellness and at the same time educate the community about mental illness.

Our "Puppet Power" program is performed in all the county schools from preschool to sixth grade each year. We were able to assist six children so far this year with our Clothe-a-Child program. Our Parents/Children and Divorce classes are offered eight to 10 times during the year, and we continue to offer our Education Series programs which deal with mental health issues and with topics that are not always considered mental health issues.

We have started to partner with other agencies and also the county schools to bring programs directly into the schools.

On behalf of MHAPC, I would like to sincerely thank the following sponsors: DePauw cross country team; The Blue Mile running store; Putnam County Convention and Visitor Bureau; Neil and Michelle Irwin; Teacher's Credit Union; Dairy Castle; Dr. Dennis Knuth; Dr. Mark Smith; Hamilton Center Inc.; Hammer and Co.; Inn at DePauw; Lifebuilder Community Church; McDonald's/Jedele Enterprises; Old National Bank; Putnamville United Methodist Church; Tri-County Bank and Trust Co.

We would also like to thank our gifts and service donors: Almost Home Restaurant; Baker's Septic Service; Children's Museum of Indianapolis; Conner Prairie; Greencastle Physical Therapy; Indianapolis Colts; Indianapolis Indians; Indianapolis Zoo; Indiana Beach; Indiana Repertory Theatre; Indiana State Museum and Culligan of Putnam County.

A very special thank you to all of our volunteers, who give us their time and expertise: John and Becky Phillips, Dan McMurtrey, Corey Brackney, Bill Nunn, Carol Emery, Jan Hodges, Don and Lenora Bowlby, John and Diana LaViolette and Mike Goss.

We look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Eileen H. Johnson

Executive Director

Mental Health America

of Putnam County