The Thrope Recovery Centre says the “Sober Heroes” who got involved with this year’s campaign knocked the Centre’s goal out of the park.
The campaign, in addition to being a fundraiser for the Centre’s services, is also designed to raise awareness of mental health and addictions struggles. Sober Heroes signed up to give up something for 30 days. This ranged from alcohol and cigarettes to sugar or caffeine, depending on what the person participating chooses. The goal is to help people understand the struggle of someone who is battling an addiction.
The event saw around 80 to 100 individuals and people joining up in teams and several businesses challenging each other. Last year, by comparison, only saw six people participating. Thorpe Development Co-ordinator Sara Fox says she was happily overwhelmed with the support for the Centre and the people in its services.
“It was a phenomenal year this year, the best yet to be honest, and I got really weepy. So far we’ve raised over $14,000, and we still have some donations coming in, so we don’t have our final total yet, but the fact that we had a $10,000 goal and we blew past it was phenomenal.”
The funding will go towards supporting several operational costs, and they will be planning out which areas of need will be worked on. This can include new mattresses, bedding as well as working on the normal wear and tear to the building. In the past, Sober Heroes has also raised for a Serenity Garden. This garden can provide a therapeutic effect on the people using Thorpe’s services, as well as give a safe and calm place for residents to engage in activities or meet with family and friends.
Fox explains that the awareness of what addiction and recovery are is extremely important, and that’s what she hopes people get out of Sober Heroes.
“Recovery is possible, but it is a day to day effort. It’s not just a quick and easy decision to be like ‘I’m going to quit drinking today.’ It is a conscious effort to be aware of your surroundings, be aware of your emotions, how you are handling things, and for us, aside from the fundraising, it’s one of the biggest impacts we’d rather see.”
Fox adds that in the future, they just want to keep the momentum going on this campaign and grow it a little more every year.