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Members of the Resource Centre for Suicide Prevention pose with a cheque for over $25,000 after an anonymous donation was given to the centre. Photo Credit: Resource Centre for Suicide Prevention.
By Shane Clausing
Community

Resource Centre for Suicide Prevention receives anonymous donation for over $25,000

Sep 9, 2020 | 1:22 PM

The Resource Centre for Suicide Prevention is calling it good news in a year filled with uncertainty.

An anonymous donor has given the Centre over $25,000.

The money will go towards the Gryphon Youth Group and Phoenix Youth Group programs, which are both formerly known as The Breakfast Club.

According to Centre Resource Coordinator Tammy Monro, this will help countless young people in the community.

“They’re both co-ed programs for youth who are looking to gain valuable experience and skills. We just rebranded it, they’re one day programs, and they follow all of Alberta Health Services recommendations and guidelines.”

The Gryphon Youth Group program is geared towards kids in Grades 7-12, and the Phoenix Youth Group is for children from Grades 4-6.

Each workshop focuses on different aspects.

For example, the Phoenix Youth Group discusses topics on stress, feelings, thoughts, communication, and helps youth build their own “feelings first aid kits”.

At the Gryphon workshops, topics such as stress and anxiety, depression and suicide, drugs and alcohol, relationships and technology safety are discussed.

Monro tells EverythingGP that since the programs have been rebranded, they’ve been in high demand.

“The next two months are completely full of registrations. We are capping it at 10 participants per workshop just because of space. It’s ten different kids each workshop and we run one of the teens and one of the pre-teens each month. We are hoping to do two (workshops each month) because of how much interest we’ve had.”

Morno says that the likely reason as to why the Centre has seen more interest in the workshops is because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centre says that most of the referrals for the programs come from parents within the Peace Region.

Those interested in applying for the programs, or finding more information on the programs can email youth@sp-rc.ca, or by heading to their website.

by Shane Clausing