Hundreds of cyclists joined in on a national initiative on Sunday to raise awareness and support to help break the stigma surrounding mental health.
The third annual ‘Ride Don’t Hide’ community bike ride kicked off from Springbank Park for All Seasons at about 7:30 a.m. and all funds raised from the event will go to support programming for the Canadian Mental Health Association - Calgary Region.
“The ride is important so that we can get some people together to have a fun day, to have conversations with each other to help break stigma and for people to be in the community so that we can raise some funds for some very important programming,” said Steve Leong, from Resource Development.
Cyclists took part in 105 km, 50 km and 10 km rides and organizers say the event continues to grow and they hope to raise $150,000 this year.
“It’s been getting bigger and bigger each year, this is our biggest year yet. Right now we’re at about 450 riders and we’ve raised over $120,000 so it’s a big exciting year,” said Leong. “We just appreciate all the support in the community, lot of riders out today, lots of local businesses here in Calgary sponsoring us, lots of vendors that have set up in the festival area, and we’ve got Son of Ray, a band out here today, playing for us as well, so it’s really incredible to see all the people come together today and to support this event.”
The ‘Ride Don’t Hide’ initiative was started in 2010 when Canadian teacher, Michael Schratter, cycled around the world to share his story about bipolar disorder and empower others to take action.
Similar events were also held in B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.
For more information on ‘Ride Don’t Hide’ click HERE.
