We’re grateful and excited to shout out some incredible high school students who dedicated themselves to championing mental health and raising funds for The Jed Foundation (JED). The Wisconsin-Upper Michigan (WIUM) Key Club, under the leadership of Luke McCormick, a student at Marquette University High School, raised more than $6,000 to support JED’s work preventing suicide and promoting mental health for teens and young adults.
Key Club is the biggest student-led service organization for high school students. At Key Club, sponsored by Kiwanis International, teens get together to make their communities better through service and leadership.
Each year, the student elected as District Governor gets to pick a cause for the whole district to support. That student was McCormick this year, and he chose JED.
“I chose to work with the Jed Foundation because I know the importance of mental well-being in creating strong, healthy communities,” McCormick said. “I’ve had a number of people close to me suffer from mental health issues in recent years, and, as a result, I’ve become more aware of the strain that these struggles put not only on the person who is suffering, but also on all those who support and care for them.”
McCormick said he wanted to use his role “to be a voice for those who suffer in silence,” especially since many students in his district live in rural areas where there is often less of a mental health support system.
JED, he said, “addresses the root cause of the issue and proactively addresses crises before they arise. The results of their programs, which are backed by science, speak for themselves.”
The message clearly resonated with McCormick’s fellow Key Club members.
“I didn’t need to give my reasons for why people should fundraise,” he said. “They could look around them at home, at school, and in their communities and find their motivation.”
During his State of the District address kicking off District Convention (DCON),the annual convention, McCormick shared that the district had collectively raised over $5,000 for JED throughout the year. That sum was in addition to a previous $925 donation from the group’s executive director.
The group invited Dr. Thea Zunick, JED’s Director of Community Giving, to speak at its annual convention, which was attended by 370 guests, advisers, and speakers and had over 25 high schools represented. After her remarks, an additional “miracle minute” fundraising request — think Key Club leaders running around with buckets for 60 seconds collecting cash donations — netted another $500. All of that, together with $50 raised at the convention’s souvenir shop, brought the fundraising total for JED to $6,475.
“The cause resonated on such a deep level with my peers and me because we could envision the impacts of JED’s programs in a tangible way,” McCormick said. “It’s so much easier to get behind a cause when it benefits people like you who have the same experiences as you.”
Many thanks to McCormick and his peers at the WIUM Key Club for all they’ve done to raise awareness and funds to protect mental health and prevent suicide for young people nationwide.
Inspired? Learn more about hosting your own do-it-yourself fundraiser for JED.
If you or someone you know needs to talk to someone right now, text, call, or chat 988 for a free confidential conversation with a trained counselor 24/7.
You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.
If this is a medical emergency or if there is immediate danger of harm, call 911 and explain that you need support for a mental health crisis.
