My wife Ginny and I were pondering where to go next. Since our beautiful boy Kelty took his life 13 years ago suffering from major depression, we were at a standstill.
The Kelty Patrick Dennehy Foundation which we founded in 2001 had raised more than $4.5 million, but donor fatigue, volunteer fatigue, the recession of 2008, and the loss of our beautiful daughter Riley in 2009 from heart failure, kiboshed our plans to continue our lucrative fundraiser golf tournament in Whistler where we live.
Our new executive assistant, local Whistler gal Carol Baker, looked over at Ginny one day and said, "Why don't you ride across Canada for mental health?" Our reaction was like putting your finger in a light socket! Two wheeled adventure has seized the imagination of late boomers [Ginny is 60,me 63.9] and we were no exception. We had just completed two Vancouver to Whistler Gran Fondo's [122kms] and this fall rode through parts of Italy and Turkey. What a ball we had. Despite the inherent dangers, road biking is easy on the joints, tunes you into the great outdoors, and opens avenues to new clean living friends. Maybe best of all, yes, you become 'ONE' with the bike.
Kerry will be regularly updating the blog with further information about the ENOUGH IS ENOUGH bike ride for mental health, as Ginny and Kerry ride more than 8,000km across Canada to reduce the stigma of mental illness and raise enough money to develop a Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre in every province and territory in Canada. Have questions or want to know more? Visit thekeltyfoundation.org
