This month we presented our largest disbursement ever to the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF). The $54,500 check is a 21% increase over last year and brings the grand total that HIKE for Mental Health has contributed to BBRF since our inception to more than $125,000.

The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation is committed to alleviating the suffering caused by mental illness by awarding grants that will lead to advances and breakthroughs in scientific research. As with HIKE for Mental Health, 100% of all donor contributions for research received by BBRF are invested in their mission. Their NARSAD grants program leads to discoveries in understanding causes and improving treatments of disorders in children and adults, such as depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, autism, and bipolar, attention-deficit hyperactivity, post-traumatic stress and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

In the cover letter to the certificate of appreciation which Brain & Behavior Research Foundation President Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., presented to us, he wrote:

Dear Leo, Tom, Nancy, and Diana,

It is our pleasure to present you with the enclosed Certificate of Appreciation for your work in raising $54,500 for the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.

Your generous contribution to the Foundation funds the most innovative ideas in neuroscience and psychiatry to better understand the causes and develop new ways to treat brain and behavior disorders. As volunteers, your donation of time provides a priceless gift of hope and kindnesss to those suffering from a mental illness. We appreciate your support; your enthusiasm and dedication to helping others is an inspiration to us all….

On behalf of the scientist grantees, all of us at the Foundation, and the 1 in 4 Americans living with a mental illness, please accept our collective thanks,

Sincerely,
Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D.
President & CEO

Your generosity made it possible

At HIKE for Mental Health, we are incredibly honored and humbled to be part of the amazing work of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. Since we presented our first check to BBRF in 2012 for about $6,200, the amount has risen each year. The lifetime total is now more than 20 times the amount of that original check.

Only the generosity of all of you – our hikers, sponsors, supporters, and donors – made this possible. Thank you all so very much! Together, step by step, we show that it is possible to live with mental illness, that hiking can be a big part of managing life with mental illness for many people, that the stigma of mental illness can be overcome, and that a few people dedicated to an important cause can make a difference. Thank you all for being on this journey with us.