11th Annual NAMIWalk San Francisco Bay Area Raises Funds for Free Mental Health Services May 30

SAN FRANCISCO - March 15, 2015 - PRLog -- MEDIA ADVISORY FOR CALENDAR LISTINGS

WHO:          The 11^th Annual 5K NAMIWalk San Francisco Bay Area in Golden Gate Park directly benefits seven participating NAMI affiliates in Alameda County, Alameda County South, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties who work together to create this annual fundraiser. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness and provides free mental health programs and services. Thousands of volunteers, families, corporate employees, community groups, and people living with mental illness from around the Bay Area will participate.

WHAT:          11^h Annual NAMIWalk San Francisco Bay Area Fundraiser - 5K (3 miles) & 2K walk routes

WHEN:          Saturday, May 30, 2015 -  8:30 AM (Check-in and On-site Registration); 10:00 AM (Opening Events); 11:00 AM (Walk Starts); Post-Walk to 2 PM: (Live music, info and food booths. Family friendly. Picnic lunches and dogs on leashes okay.)

WHERE:         Golden Gate Park, Lindley Meadow (next to Speedway Meadow) 30^th Ave and John F Kennedy Drive, San Francisco, CA, 94121

REGISTER:      To register, go to http://namiwalks.org (Click on "Find A Walk," Click on "C" for California and Select the link for "2015 NAMIWalk Bay Area.").  Or, call (800) 556-2401. Walkers can register as individuals, join a team or become a captain and form their own teams.

COST:          Registration is FREE to NAMIWalkers (Thanks to sponsor donations -- see a list at http://namiwalks.org/sponsors/BayArea.)

WHY:          May is Mental Health Awarenss Month. The local Bay Area NAMIWalk raises funds through walk-team and corporate sponsor donations and helps to educate the public and remove stigma associated with mental illness. In 2014, the walk raised almost $440,000.  The proceeds were shared among the participating Bay Area affiliates to underwrite the no-cost NAMI mental health programs most needed in their area. Programs include Family to Family, a multi-week support and education course for family members of people with mental illness, In Our Own Voice, an anti-stigma speaker’s bureau, Parents and Teachers as Allies, an in-service program helping school professionals better understand the early warning signs of mental illnesses in children, partnerships with multi-cultural agencies reaching out with classes and education materials in Spanish and Chinese. Increasingly important is NAMI's national Veteran’s Resource Center. NAMI affililates provide services for veterans and active duty personnel through local support groups specifically for family members of service personnel dealing with mental health issues. On a national level, NAMI advocates politically for improved public policies addressing the needs of those with mental illness and their families. For more information, visit http://www.nami.org.


NOTE TO MEDIA:  Pre-walk interviews are available leading up to and on the day of the NAMIWalk on May 30th.  Please reply to this post for more information, story ideas and/or to schedule an interview with a NAMIWalk SF Bay Area spokesperson.