JEVI lottery nets $105,620
The JEVI Suicide Prevention Center ended its 33rd annual fundraising campaign, the JEVI Lottery, on Wednesday, June 6, during a festive 5 à 7 held at the Julien-ducharme Centre in Fleurimont. The evening was very popular with the some 300 ticket buyers gathered to see selection of the 11 JEVI Lottery Grand Prizes and 16 door prizes.
The JEVI Board Chair, Michel Thibault, took advantage of the large gathering in support of suicide prevention to remind the audience of what the sums raised by this fundraising activity are used for:
"In terms of self-financing, this annual lottery is our main engine,” he said. ”By contributing, you have helped us keep two professionals in service of people in distress and their loved ones. The evening is not just about JEVI, not just about you, who made this fundraising campaign a huge success again this year; this evening is about the connection between us and us all united in suicide prevention in Estrie."
Serge Caron, a member of the JEVI Lottery Committee, was pleased to announce the renewal of Mr. Billy Stergiou's exceptional gift of $15,000 from the Sherbrooke Eggsquis Restaurants. This sum, added to the proceeds from ticket sales and other donations, allowed Honorary President Dr. Alain Côté to proudly announce a grand total of $105,620 as the final tally of the campaign:
"JEVI is an essential resource in Estrie. Its mission is important: in a world where navel-gazing often wins over the heart, where everything goes so fast that the pains of our neighbours do not have a slot on the agenda. We need people who listen, people who guide, people who save lives and also people who console ... "He concluded "Alone, all that is impossible ... great things are done together! The network we are weaving for JEVI is solid and alive and you are all part of it. Thank you."
The list of winners is available on the JEVI website: www.jevi.qc.ca A group of special guests were invited to tour Cookshire Elementary school, which has recently transformed into a ‘Living School’, incorporating nature into all aspects of the learning process to help reduce stress and benefit from the positive impacts, both mentally and physically, of being connected to the natural world.
Among the guests were members of the Eastern Townships School Board, representatives from Dawson College in Montreal, who are partners in the initiative, and members of the St. Francis Naturalists’ Club, instrumental in keeping the environment on the minds of students by sponsoring guest lecturers in local schools. The club is credited for bringing the Living School idea to Cookshire through Dawson guest lecturer Chris Adam.
Visitors from Cape Breton University and University of Toronto were also in attendance to visit the living elementary school, which will likely serve as a model for other schools and campuses to follow in the future.
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