Dairy Freez fundraising for CMHA to put spotlight on suicide prevention
CBC
Arlene Reaume lost her husband, Mike, to suicide nearly three years ago and says there are still days that are difficult.
"The struggle is still. There are some days it's like yesterday but other days you know we do better," Reaume said.
Reaume and her family have owned the iconic Dairy Freez in Essex County for almost 70 years and wanted to use their place in the community to help others find the support they need.
Last year her son Jeff got the idea to sell T-shirts and hoodies with three different Dairy Freez logos on them — one each to represent the 1950's, '60s and '70s — different decades the restaurant has been around.
Five dollars from the sale of each shirt goes to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) for suicide prevention programs.
"I've been thinking about these logos for quite some time and we decided that we wanted to do something worthwhile with them," Jeff Reaume said.
"And since this community has been taking care of us for the last 69 years, I thought it would be a nice way to give back, especially after the challenges the area has had since the pandemic."
Jeff Reaume said the work is also in honour of his father.
The CMHA said the money is much needed to save lives because the organization doesn't get government funding for the programs.
Kim Willis, director of communications and mental health promotion at the CMHA, said she thinks the family is phenomenal.
"They've done a couple of fundraisers in the past that have gone towards our efforts at suicide prevention and they just continue to give back and I mean, they're amazing," Willis said.
"Any efforts that we do are reliant on fundraised dollars, so support like this allows to go into the community and provide education and awareness around where you can turn if someone is suicidal."
The Reaumes have been selling the shirts since November and have raised $750.
But they've also been participating in raffles with the Essex 73's hockey team and have raised $25,000 through those efforts.
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