After watching their daughters suffer with mental health issues and become hospitalized just four days apart from each other, Bill and Susan Guiney of Renews decided it was time they did something to end the stigma.
In collaboration with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Bill Guiney has been doing push ups to spread awareness since 2015 but this year he wanted to do more.
His wife, Susan Guiney, says they chose to travel around every day to different community monuments, businesses and groups and do 15 seconds of push-ups. The couple have been posting them on their Facebook accounts.
It is all part of this year’s motto, “push down the stigma push up the awareness.”
She says the initiative gets people talking.
She says the more people who know, the more the information is out there.
Bill’s becoming recognized as “the push-up guy.” She says more people are coming to them and confiding in them. People come up to them and recognize him as the guy who does the push ups.
The year-end fundraiser event will be taking place on July 13th and 14th at Larkall Elementary in St. John’s. You can donate here.