Thirty-One Gifts and its charitable program, Thirty-One Gives, has launched a spring fundraising campaign to transform mental health services for children in the U.S. and Canada.
Now through May 31, Thirty-One Gives will focus on raising awareness to break mental health stigmas through kindness while raising funds to support critical life-changing mental health research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in the U.S., and vital mental health programs across Canada through Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations.
Thirty-One will offer customers the opportunity to support both hospital systems, including Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s On Our Sleeves behavioral health platform, by rounding up their purchase price to the nearest dollar or donating an amount of their choice.
The On Our Sleeves campaign features child models with graphic icons on their arms reminiscent of tattoos. The campaign seeks to break stigmas, start important conversations and raise much-needed funds for behavioral health research. Graphic stickers symbolize issues associated with mental health, and individuals are encouraged to engage with the topic because kids don’t wear their thoughts on their sleeves. The campaign will launch nationally in May, during Mental Health Awareness Month.
“Since 2016, we have proudly partnered with Nationwide Children’s Hospital in support of life-changing behavioral health research and are now proud to join the On Our Sleeves movement with our family of more than 60,000 independent sales consultants across the U.S. and Canada to break mental health stigmas and support children everywhere,” said Cindy Monroe, founder and CEO, Thirty-One Gifts.
Thirty-One also will launch a kindness campaign. They will encourage their independent sales field to practice kindness in their daily lives, with an awareness that kindness has benefits for those dealing with mental illness. There will be a special focus and social media campaign for the sales field conducted throughout May to involve consultants and customers to start the conversation about children’s mental health.Consultants also are encouraged to “Party with a Purpose” by holding a party with a theme focused on kindness and mental health awareness.
Statistics about children’s mental health are disturbing; one in five children is living with a mental illness.
“It is time to break the silence about children’s mental health, and with the support of mission-driven partners like Thirty-One Gifts, together we can set the foundation for helping children, not just in our own backyard, but also provide critical resources to children and families around the country,” said Niki Shafer, senior vice president, Outreach, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation.