A national walk raising awareness for mental health and suicide prevention is coming up, and Steinbach is representing Manitoba.
"It looks funny because (there's) all these big cities, and then Steinbach, Manitoba. We are the Manitoba walk," says Marisol Pulido, a volunteer with the Sashbear Foundation, which is the organization behind the walk.
The walk was held in Steinbach last year as well, and she says it was a huge success.
"We had about 55 people show up on a really cold day," she says, but it was still important to hold the walk despite the chill—acknowledging Mental Health doesn't break for the weather.
"Some days you wake up and it's sunny, and then there are some other days where it's gloomy and it's raining and it's cold, and you just have to go through your day," she says.
That walk raised more than $3,000 for the foundation, which strives to make "waves on mental health and suicide prevention."
Behind the Sashbear Foundation
Pulido says the foundation was created in the memory of a young woman named Sasha, who died by suicide at 20 years old.
"Her family decided to carry the legacy of her beautiful life helping other families, (and) created a program that offers a lifeline for families and friends of loved ones who face emotional challenges," she says.
Pulido encountered the program about three years ago, she says, when her family was walking through a similar journey to Sasha's family.
In a time of despair, and feeling hopeless, she says they found the organization, and she signed up right away.
"I started to take educational workshops they offer monthly, (for) free" she explains. "Eventually I signed up for the Family Connections program, who helped us a lot as a family."
She says there aren't many options out there, so being able to access a program like this was incredibly meaningful.
It helped her feel like she wasn't alone, having met with well over a dozen other families after joining.
"Oh my goodness. I have lived that, that is so similar," she says. "Then you feel like, 'Oh. There is hope here, I'm not the only one.'"
Details about the walk
Pulido says, this year, the group will meet at a hut in the K.R. Barkman Park on May 24.
They will proceed down Main Street, she says, adding she is going to try to make the walk a little longer than last time.
"I'm sure there's going to be more people, and I'm sure we can take the extra mile," she says.
Those interested can register for the walk at sashbear.org.
Written with files from Corny Rempel