Historically we’ve made efforts towards the charitable side of things, making sure that our winning team would be able to make a contribution to the charity of their choice. It gave them a reason more than just the on-field competitiveness to play. It let them make a contribution to something or someone that they cared about.

2016 – Zido ($500) – Mecca Wolves
2017 – Our Village Humanitarian Aid ($500) – Mecca Wolves
2018 – Global Kindness Fund ($1000) – Mashad Bucks

This year, on January 31, 2019 – we sent out a message to some of our followers. That day was Bell Let’s Talk day in Canada, and it was our chance to bring a spotlight to the issue of mental health. Mental Health is a growing problem everywhere, and especially in our community.

It’s a fact: One in five Canadians will suffer from mental illness at some point in their lifetime. One of the biggest hurdles for anyone suffering from mental illness is overcoming the stigma. It is the number one reason why two-thirds of those living with a mental illness do not seek help.

So we’d like your help in combatting this problem, you can do so in one of 5 ways.

1. Be mindful of your language (it’s an illness just like any other)
2. Educate yourself and understand the facts
3. Be kind and supportive
4. Listen and ask questions
5. Talk about it

This year, JMS is partnering with Naseeha to provide awareness to mental health.

Naseeha provides our community with the tools needed to address mental health. With our confidential helpline, our youth receives immediate, anonymous, and confidential support over the phone from 3 – 9 pm, 7 days a week. With our educational programs, we raise awareness within the community the stigma around mental health.

This year we are introducing a campaign we call Swing for Mental Health.

Each hit registered in 2019 regular season will go contribute towards a donation to Naseeha, the bigger the hit, the bigger the contribution. We want to support Naseeha so that they can continue their work and together we can raise awareness within our families and communities and reduce the stigma around mental health.

If we repeat last year’s numbers (838 Singles, 224 Doubles, 63 Triples, and 58 HRs), we would be able to make a contribution of $2181!!

We know that we’re capable of much more this year, so we’re eager to see the impact we can make, so we want to encourage all of our players to swing for the fences and help us contribute towards the noble mission Naseeha has undertaken.

If you’d like to contribute towards this cause, please reach out to charity@jmsleague.com. Any contribution is welcomed, so please don’t hesitate to give.