Letter to the Editor

Didn’t Dodge the Issues: Heartfelt thanks to our community

Monday, May 23, 2022

To the editor:

Mental Health America of Putnam County (MHAoPC) would like to take this opportunity to thank the community for its support of our recent “Don’t Dodge the Issues” Dodgeball Tournament. Held April 30, it was a perfect time to kick off May as Mental Health Awareness Month and bring together young and seasoned players to participate in the sheer joy and determination of dodgeball.

Of course a huge Thank You to our Sponsors: Cummins Behavioral Health Systems, our Gold Sponsor, and Brackney Insurance, Tri-County Bank and Trust, The Hamilton Center and McDonald’s Enterprises supporting at the Silver level. Prime Real Estate sponsored two high school teams, with the Greencastle High School National Honor Society team “The Eric Wolfe Pack” winning the tournament and top prizes including real dodgeballs. We appreciate all those people and companies that donated for both the prize packages for the top three teams plus the Silent Auction. Papa John’s donated pizzas to our event.

Of course we couldn’t do this without countless hours spent planning the event, our silent auction, concessions and resource fair. Special shout out to Erin Flick and Joanna Muncie for coordinating so many facets of this event, the fine young men of Phi Gamma Delta (FiJi) fraternity, led by Riley Reed from DePauw University, who aided with additional referees and setting up and tearing down, and Christina Kerns for securing many of the Silent Auction and other donations. Joel Bottom donated his exceptional photography skills, and board members Harriet Moore, Linda Schroeder, Kim Salsman and Emma Cash were the backbone that kept track of the players bracket, resource tables and helped wherever there was a need. Thank you to Jerrod Baugh for providing outstanding refereeing skills, supported by Sal Martoglio and Hamza Cherqaoui.

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Throughout the event, helpful folks from Cummins, The Hamilton Center and the Putnam County Recovery Coalition were available to share important mental health activities and great giveaways. We’d like to thank them for sharing these important resources. Mental Health America displayed many eye-opening facts about mental health, plus introduced the 2022 Mental Health Awareness Toolkit, featuring Back-to-Basics information to help anyone explore mental health signs, symptoms, ways to find out more and support.

Top Three Teams:

#1 - Greencastle High School National Honor Society team “The Eric Wolfe Pack”

#2 – The Purple Cobras

#3 – Deer Meadow Prime (also sponsored by Prime Realty, representing Deer Meadow Primary School)

Thank you for making our event so well-attended, and fun, all while remembering that Mental Health is health. All proceeds stay in Putnam County to further mental health education and advocacy programs, positively impacting the lives of all Putnam County residents. Thank you all again.

Many thanks,

Karen Martoglio

MHAoPC Executive Director