When’s the last time you combed a chicken? Have you ever written a wish on a balloon? Had your face painted like a lion? Challenged the way you think about mental health? Actually changed the way you think about mental health?

Well, you’ll have the opportunity to do all of the above and more next Wednesday, March 8. Active Minds, the Stone Center, Health Services and many other campus groups are bringing Fresh Check Day to campus!

We are clearly thrilled.

This is the second year we’ve had Fresh Check Day. Fresh Check Day is a mental wellness fair that aims to provide education about mental health in a fun, exciting way. The event is sponsored by the Jordan Porco Foundation, an organization that promotes mental health, especially for young people on college campuses. Everything about Fresh Check Day is about having fun and promoting help-seeking behaviors. The day has a special focus on suicide awareness and prevention. It will also feature interactive booths that highlight many mental health concerns in a fun and engaging way. Booths will include face painting and massages, and there will be a petting zoo. You will have the opportunity to pet and/ or comb animals such as chickens and pigs in a gentle and respectful manner. Of course, there will also be food, music and prizes.

One of Fresh Check Day’s strengths is its focus on making the message about accessing resources and learning about mental health uplifting. While many of the topics that Fresh Check Day covers are certainly serious, the tone of the event has been and will be wonderfully bright and cheerful. This tone can encourage people to reach out to each other, have a good time, see mental health differently and attend the event in the first place. Active Minds regularly strives to take this tone in many of our events and meetings.

Another strength of Fresh Check Day is its goal of bringing the campus together. In the same way that Active Minds collaborates with other orgs on campus, Fresh Check Day regularly promotes creativity and connection. The array of booths, from alcohol awareness to online screenings, requires us to come together and collaborate in our planning. Such collaboration and bridging of resources is essential in community responses to and support for mental health. You, too, can be part of setting a standard in our community that we should work together to support each other and ourselves in accessing a wide array of resources. Join us on Fresh Check Day!

If you’re interested in volunteering for Fresh Check Day or learning more about Active Minds, please email us at [email protected].