It’s Almost Mental Health Awareness Month!

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and The Kim Foundation has many initiatives in place to spread awareness in the workplace, schools, on social media, and in the community. We create initiatives each year to break the stigma surrounding mental health. By expanding our efforts this year, we hope to reach a wide range of community members. This May, we hope you will join us and enjoy participating in some of the events and initiatives we have in place.

Community Events – Mark your calendars!

May 16, 6-9 p.m. – The Kim Foundation is partnering with Kendra Scott at their Village Pointe location for a Kendra Gives Back community-giving night. We will be hosting an in-store event as an organization in the community that works to improve health and wellness education and empowerment. 20% of the proceeds are devoted directly to benefiting The Kim Foundation and our efforts towards awareness and prevention.

May 17, 6:30 p.m. – Come join The Kim Foundation as the Community Organization of the Night to cheer on the Storm Chasers. The game begins at 6:35 p.m. Members from our team will be present to speak about the organization at a booth, pre-game interview, and even throw the ceremonial first pitch!

Schools

The Kim Foundation is always looking for ways to involve schools in mental health initiatives. So far this year we have launched the Shine Brighter Together initiative, and we look forward to our 2^nd annual EmPOWER Youth Summit in October. To build on these efforts into the month of May, The Kim Foundation, with the help of our amazing volunteers and Youth Advisory Council, is creating “Take What You Need” boards. With May being a stressful month for students, we are creating these boards so students can “take what they need.” Whether they are in need of happiness, laughter, encouragement, or confidence, students can take positive messages written by other students and finish the school year on a high note.

Social Media

Social media can often be a negative place where positive mental health is not encouraged. We hope to use our platforms to shed some light on wellness and highlight some of the wonderful things our volunteers, the Youth Advisory Council, and our staff are doing to breakdown the stigma. You will be hearing a voice from volunteers as they share what mental health means to them and how volunteering has created wellness in their lives, a few students from the Youth Advisory Council will share their perspective on mental health, and staff at The Kim Foundation will share our favorite self-care tips.

Workplace

We have a couple fun activities in place for staff at The Kim Foundation and Project Harmony. Journal prompts will be handed out to staff as they get food from the food trucks coordinated by Project Harmony for Mental Health Awareness Month. Staff will also be able to participate in yoga during the workday.

How you can get involved

• Attend our community events!
• Interact with us on social media!
• The Green Light Project – The Mental Health Association of Nebraska and their partners created a project last year called the Green Light Project. With this, they had a goal to light up Nebraska green for Mental Health Awareness Month. Their goal this year is to light up as many houses and businesses throughout Nebraska green on the evening of May 1^st through the end of the month. Community members will be lighting up their front porches or even hanging green Christmas lights. You can help light up Nebraska green!

Sidney Howard, Outreach Coordinator

Sidney Howard is an Outreach Coordinator at The Kim Foundation. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Sociology from Midland University, where she was an Event Coordinator for four years. Sidney has previous experience in behavioral health, working with youth and adults in direct care settings. Sidney is passionate about raising awareness around mental health and providing support and resources. She joined the foundation in January of 2023 and currently focuses on outreach through presentations, events, and relations.