Brain Boogie: Annual walk-a-thon to bring together community for those impacted by brain injuries
Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association’s Brain Boogie walk-a-thon and fun run for those impacted by brain injury will be held on Sunday, August 26 at the Crescent Park Amphitheatre.
Brain Boogie is held in five cities around the province; Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Regina, Yorkton and Prince Albert. This year, Moose Jaw’s event will be held at the park, starting at 10:00 a.m. with a warm up session by the Yoga Loft.
This event is highly anticipated all year by SBIA’s enthusiastic members. Brain injury survivors and their families strongly support the Brain Boogie. “Pledges, donations, and an undeniable positive energy are all aspects that survivors and their families bring to the Brain Boogie,” said Glenda James, Executive Director of SBIA.
“This group is a safe place where we are comfortable sharing our struggles and our successes. The group seems to “get it” when we share personal stories,” said one survivor about the programs funded by the Brain Boogie. The Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association works diligently to raise awareness, as well as educate and prevent acquired brain injuries. Brain injury is the number one killer and disabler of children and those under the age of 44, according to SBIA. The Association aims to change these statistics with awareness through events like their Brain Boogie. James says Brain Boogie raises funds to provide support for brain injury survivors beyond rehab. “The Brain Boogie was started by a brain injury survivor about 16 years ago. She felt there weren’t any programs available for brain injury survivors to break the isolation following that injury. This is really a problem that brain injury survivors face after the fact where they are often isolated. With Brain Boogie, they wanted to change that by having programs that would help persons feel like they were progressing. Rehab is a general program with a maximum of three years for brain injury victims but after rehab, persons are kind of left on their own,” she explained.
“While some people can go back to work or school and have some sort of accommodation, for some others, that’s not the case. For example, one of the common problems for brain injury survivors is fatigue because the brain has to work so hard after an injury. So, Brain Boogie was established to facilitate programs to help persons manage their injury. It was started in Regina and has since moved on to five other major cities,” James added. James outlined some of the programming that funding from this event supports. “One of the programs that Brain Boogie supports is annual retreats held across the province. We host three retreats. For many persons, these retreats are the only chance they get to get away and be part of something that doesn’t make them feel isolated and know that they have support. This programming breaks the isolation, and this is what we raise funding to do—to give survivors an opportunity that they wouldn’t have had otherwise. We also offer a lot of information/motivational sessions and a banquet after our retreats. We also don’t charge for our programs so financing is not a barrier to persons accessing our programs,” she said.
She encourages everyone to come out and show their support by participating in this year’s Brain Boogie. “We want to see teams come out this year to join us and support this important event,” James said. “There will also be a free BBQ that comes with registration and a big surprise that we will be unveiling this year!”
The Brain Boogie is a morning event that consists of a walk-a-thon or run, and family fun Boogie celebration. Each location adds a different spin to the event. In Regina, the Saskatchewan Roughrider cheerleaders lead a warm up. In Moose Jaw, a local cheer team performs. In Yorkton, the event is held as a golf tournament and steak night. In Saskatoon, the Coors Light CRUSH Dancers lead a warm up & cheer on participants.
For more information on Brain Boogie, visit the website at www.sbia.ca or contact SBIA at sbia.events@sasktel.net.