St Patrick's SMILE Club in honor of Travis Turner

I’ve written and revised this too many times to count. There is a mental health crisis affecting our youth, our family and our community. I’ve felt compelled to take action for over a decade and am thankful for an opportunity to finally honor my heart. Thanks to Dr. Rachel Noll, Shannon Roberts, Avra Boggs and Heath Hazelrigg for encouraging and supporting this endeavor. Together we are starting a SMILE club at Saint Patrick’s School. And here’s why it’s important and I’m asking for your help.

Weeks after the unthinkable of losing their daughter and sister to mental illness, The Nolan family started the Rae of Sunshine Foundation to help others and spread awareness. From this, the SMILE Club was born to provide a supportive environment and leadership opportunities to school-aged children. Mason County School currently has a thriving SMILE Club and some student members are assisting in getting our club started at Saint Patrick’s School in Maysville, KY.

Suicide. Addiction. Bullying. School Shootings. Abuse. Neglect. These are subjects that are too familiar to our youth. In 2019, 18.8% of surveyed high school students admitted to considering suicide, and 9% attempted. In 2020, there were an estimated 1.2 million attempts of suicide in the US.

As most of you know, my family suffered the same loss. Travis Turner lost his battle with mental illness a week before his 23rd birthday. As we are approaching 15 years without his physical presence, I feel him now more than ever encouraging us to “do something!” I’m asking for your help. Please consider donating to help with our start-up costs if you feel generous. Travis made so many people SMILE. If you were touched by Travis’s big heart or personality, please consider donating to honor his life. If you can’t donate but want to help, I would appreciate any suggestions for what you think is needed to educate our youth, recommendations of guest speakers, or reach out to learn how you can start a club like this at another school.

While one of the leadership goals of the SMILE Club is to have fundraising and become self-sufficient, we need funding now for start-up costs. All funds from GoFundMe will go directly to the club’s account and used for the following:

-Guest speakers including: counselors in the mental health field

-Supplies for local service projects

-Monthly activities to bring awareness to mental health, anti-bullying, responsibility with social media use, emotional regulation and self-care

-T-shirts for all students (pre-K-12th grades) to wear on SMILE days