LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The children’s charity Let’s Erase the Stigma Educational Foundation (LETS) launched its “Let’s Run!” fundraiser at the San Francisco Marathon on July 31, 2011, where athletes raised more than $10,000 to benefit LETS Clubs that educate youth about stigma and mental illness. LETS has just added three more annual races to its cause: the Los Angeles Marathon and the Modesto Marathon on March 18, 2012; and the Hollywood Half Marathon on April 7, 2012. Participants who run with Team LETS can receive reimbursement of their race registration fee for meeting their fundraising goal.
Fourteen fundraisers crossed the half and full marathon finish lines with Team LETS at the first race in San Francisco, which was followed by a celebratory luncheon in Berkeley where a special program included toasts from Dr. Stephen Hinshaw, Professor of Psychology at University of California Berkeley and LETS Co-Director of Research; Philippe Fontilea, Founder and Chair of LETS; and Doris Smeltzer, Author and Founder of Andrea’s Voice Foundation. Ms. Smeltzer compared recovery and stigma to endurance sports, stating, “Healing from an eating disorder and erasing the stigma and shame of mental illness are marathon endeavors—completely doable and necessary—but they both require the stamina, heart, and faith of a marathon runner.”
Half marathon finisher Will Egan raised the most funds out of the LETS runners. He began running 10ks and charity races in 2000 as part of a family tradition of giving. “As a family we all made a commitment to support some charitable organization in some way every year,” Egan says. When his cousin was diagnosed with lymphoma as college student, he ran with ten family members who collectively raised more than $60,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Egan decided to run for LETS Educational Foundation in the San Francisco Marathon events because of another personal experience. “I’ve been looking for a great organization that I feel strongly about and that touches me. The second I got to the [LETS] webpage and read four sentences into...the goals of the organization, I thought, this was meant to be.” Egan has seen the effects of stigma in his own family, which has been affected by eating disorders. “Why aren’t people more open to acknowledging and trying to help solve [mental health concerns] as opposed to treating people with stigma, almost forcing people to not do anything and not say anything until it gets worse and worse?”
LETS Educational Foundation speaks to this question by focusing on early education and prevention through youth-led LETS Clubs where kids can talk openly about stigma and mental health before ever reaching crisis. The children’s charity will join more marathons across the United States in coming months and provide runners with a fundraising kit, connecting mental health and physical fitness to raise awareness and save kids from issues like mental disorders, bullying, and teen suicide. Egan plans to run with Team LETS again at the upcoming half marathon in Modesto.
About Let’s Erase the Stigma Educational Foundation
Let’s Erase the Stigma Educational Foundation (LETS) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) children’s charity dedicated to erasing the stigma of mental illness by funding and developing educational programs, mentoring opportunities, and research possibilities designed to empower youth to change the perception of mental illness. LETS Educational Foundation establishes LETS Clubs in schools and community centers where members discuss stigma, learn about mental health, plan and lead their own stigma-erasing projects, and provide peer-to-peer education in their communities. For more information, contact LETS at 888-594-5387 or visit www.letserasethestigma.org.