Farm to Table dinner raises awareness for mental health
CHATHAM — The Alger County Community Collaborative and the Communities that Care program are in the process of preparing for their 3rd annual, ‘It’s All in the Barn’ event!
The fun and exciting night will be held at the Michigan State University North Farm in Chatham on Saturday, September 15th. This event includes a farm to table dinner, raffles items, pie/cake auction, kids’ area, and music by Granny Fox and the Farm Hands Band.
While the night is all about dancing and having fun, the goal behind the event sends a strong message from the people of Alger County.
“One of the biggest issues is our identified risk factors of depression and anxiety, which, looking at the regional data, is across the board,” said Communities that Care Coordinator, Mary Jo o’Halloran – Torongo. “We have been very successful in placing programming into our schools, but we knew that something more needed to occur. We were able to put in $30,000 towards hiring a school social worker.”
“This barn event specifically is for our social worker, to sustain her in however she does help kids with depression, anxiety, anger – so it really goes hand in hand with what we are trying to fund and what she covers,” said Alger County Community Collaborative President, Bobbi Ayotte. “Through the CTC, we also do other programs and other fundraisers in our county to also help with the suicide prevention funds and our school social worker.”
For the past 2 years, the event has entirely sold out! You can find tickets for the event at the following locations:
- AuTrain- The Brownstone Inn
- Chatham- Mama Cow’s
- Grand Marais-The Snack Shack
- Marquette-Marquette Food Coop
- Munising- Alger Parks Recreation,
Falling Rock Bookstore
& Cafe