BY JONATHAN FERGUSON
Be The Game continues to spread the kind everytime message while raising money and mental health awareness.
At the Black Bull Neighbourhood Pub Banquet hall, Sept 18, Be The Game held a fundraiser so schools that normally would not be able to have the program visit now could within the upcoming months.
Be The Game was founded in 2008 and is a program devoted to building strong kids from the inside out through sports camps and the kind everytime 21-day challenge to educate kids on mental health awareness and anti-bullying.
The night started off slow but the small banquet hall provided by Black Bull pub quickly filled up with supporters within the first hour.
“In the last 15 school months alone, over 225,000 students have been worked with personally,” said Joe Drexler, founder of Be The Game and the Kind Everytime 21-day Challenge. “What do I do? Class by class by class because when you have a conversation with the kids, when you give them the confidence to open up, and talk about their feelings and their fears amazing things happen. Leadership is being discovered.”
Recognizing students who showed outstanding leadership was also a part of the event. Grade eight student Seth Cabezas received a reward for Student of the Year for up-holding the kind everytime message.
“After completing Be The Games 21-day challenge, I found my everyday mood better and brighter,” said Cabezas. “In fact it is still improving, I always find myself doing good deeds without even thinking about it.”
Cabezas received praise from Drexler for his work over the years.
“I have worked with Seth since he was in Grade six, and the moment I met him, the way he shook my hand, the way he looked at me in the eyes, he had me,” said Drexler. “He had Grade eights following his lead, the respect from the Grade seven and eights for a Grade six student, and to see his development and evolvment through our program, I couldn’t be more proud to annouce Seth as our student of the year.”
Mental health awareness was also a topic of the event. Liam Goodman, a local artist and Be The Game supporter, donated three printed portraits of the late Robin Williams, who took his own life due to mental illness. The portraits were three of the many prizes available for showing up to the event and part of the raffle ticket draw.
Goodman will be joining the Be the Game team as a Kind Everytime Ambassador.
The band, Last Bullet, provided music for the show that entertained a crowd of ages ranging from 18 to 60 and chose the event specifically because of its anti-bullying message.
“I was actually bullied like crazy when I was a little kid,” said band frontman Bryan Fontez. “At the end of the day I think the best way to deal with bullying is to educate kids. The parents can’t be there all the time, teachers are not there all the time, so people need to educate their kids.”
Samantha Drexler, 19, Be The Game ambassador, was in charge of organizing the event and was proud of how the night played out.
“The event was awesome, there was a lot of people who bought tickets and couldn’t come. Even though they couldn’t be here they wanted to show support for the cause and they can still win the prizes,” said Drexler’s daughter. “The turnout was pretty good especially for the space that we provided.”
Be the Game will now use the money raised to travel over the next four to five months to schools that want their service but could not normally afford them.
“So next for us is continuing what we do best and building our program up even more,” said Samantha. “Getting our message out to more people and just continuing the high positive energy that we have, that’s definitely where Be The Game is going now.”
Check out Be The Game on their website and the 21-day challenge!
visit their Facebook or twitter and get involved!
If you are interested in the sound of the band check Last Bullet out here!