Eisner able to donate $10,000 to CMHA through ‘Vaccinated’ pins campaign
TRURO - Truro’s Betsy Eisner has only one regret from her ‘Vaccinated 2021’ pins campaign – that she didn’t sell more.
“A little frustrated because I didn’t have enough contacts in the city; I know I could have sold them in the city and raised a lot more money for mental health,” Eisner said. “But that was difficult with COVID, trying to get down there and meet people.”
As it was, Eisner raised $10,000 which she presented earlier this month to the Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division (CMHA).
Eisner said the pins are meant for wearers to celebrate getting vaccinated while bridging the connection between the mental health challenges people face dealing with COVID-19.
“There was a lot in the news around COVID about people taking their lives,” she said. “I have friends who had friends who had taken their lives, and it just really touched me to the point where I felt it was important to try and do something for other people and help with my own mental health through trying to help others.”
Eisner sold 9,530 pins across Nova Scotia. For every $2 pin, 50 cents was allocated to the association, with the rest going towards the cost of production and distribution.
The Colchester Community Workshop in Truro played a role in the production, so Eisner’s campaign benefitted that organization as well.
Eisner said $7,529 was raised through sales and then another $2,471 in direct donations.
"Because of donations like Betsy’s, more Nova Scotians will have access to initiatives, programs, and resources that positively impact their daily living, programs that help keep Nova Scotians out of crisis — that help keep people," said Karn Nichols, executive director with the provincial CMHA. “We are so grateful to Betsy and to Nova Scotians for their support and generosity.”
Eisner began her campaign in April and wound it down as the buttons ran out and the number of vaccinations slowed down.
“I thought it was time to stop,” she said. “But if a business contacted me and wanted a hundred, I would certainly make and sell them if they were prepaid. I paid for everything up front myself, then went and sold them to raise the money.”
She said it was heart-warming to see people wearing her buttons and noted her granddaughter proudly telling her that nurses, who came to her