3^rd annual race and fun run Oct. 15 in Collierville

This year's third annual NAMI Memphis family fun day includes a 1-mile fun run/walk and health fair. The 2010 event drew more than 200 runners and roughly 800 participants to the Marriott Courtyard at The Avenue Carriage Crossing in Collierville, TN on September 11. This year's race is at the same location. To register, go to www.racesonline.com.

The NAMI Memphis third annual 5K & 1-Mile Fun Run/Walk is set for Saturday, Oct. 15. This year’s event, like the past two, will be held at The Avenue Carriage Crossing and again will include family activities and games as well as a health fair.

Powered by volunteers, nonprofit NAMI Memphis is an affiliate of the grassroots National Alliance on Mental Illness and NAMI Tennessee.

“One in four people are diagnosed with a mental illness during a given year,” says Debra Dillon, NAMI Memphis board president. “Everyone either loves, works with or knows someone who has a mental disorder. The 5K is our only major fundraiser for the year. It helps us continue to provide all services free.”

NAMI Memphis’ services, Dillon explains, include providing people diagnosed with mental illness, their family, friends and caregivers with resources to navigate the mental health care system, information, education and classes and support groups.

Collierville police CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) officer Terry Smith, NAMI Memphis’ treasurer, adds, “NAMI Memphis also is instrumental in the continuing development of the CIT program and training law enforcement officers in CIT.”

CIT officers volunteer their time for the special training, which, explains Maj. Robert Vaughn, Memphis Police Department CIT coordinator and NAMI Memphis board member, has multiple benefits. “CIT officers are trained to diffuse a crisis and the person needing help is taken to a mental health facility, not to jail. This helps the person and it saves taxpayers,” he says.

Developed in 1988 by the Memphis Police Department in conjunction with NAMI Memphis, the University of Memphis and the University of Tennessee, the CIT program is known nationwide as “The Memphis Model.” Among supporters of the event are the CIT divisions of the Collierville Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

Collierville Police Lt. Jeff Dwyer recalls the instrumental role Collierville’s CIT division plays in the 5K beginning with a conversation between him and Smith. “He had the idea of contacting NAMI about holding their annual charitable event in Collierville, and it has grown into an event that raised in excess of $20,000 last year. The command staff and I couldn’t be happier with the efforts and dedication of our CIT officers in their service to this community,” he says.

Collierville CIT officer Terry Smith takes time for a snow cone snack while staying in touch with other NAMI Memphis race-day volunteers.

Sgt. Derek Mills, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office CIT coordinator, says, “NAMI is dedicated to assisting in the training of officers within Shelby County by providing CIT classes, which provide officers the ability to recognize people suffering from a personal mental crisis and ways to walk them through their situation to a safe ending for all.”

The family fun and fitness event for all ages will feature winners’ awards; goodie bags; T-shirts; door prizes; hamburgers and hot dogs grilled onsite; live entertainment by Mimi and the Breeze; law enforcement and safety agencies’ displays and demonstrations including a S.W.A.T. Bearcat, police helicopter, Fatal Vision and the Collierville police’s K9 and the fire department’s ladder engine; and such games and activities as a dunk tank, face painting, inflatable bounce, free popcorn and more.

To register, go online at racesonline.com or call 725.0305. Pre-registration through Oct. 14 is $20. Race-day registration, $25, begins at 7 a.m. Registration for the fun run/walk through Oct. 14 is $15 with race-day registration $20. Accommodations for wheelchair participation may be made by calling 725.0305.

“Everyone who participates in the race and every individual or company that agrees to be one of our sponsors or provide door-prize items will be supporting our mission to provide help and hope,” says Dillon, adding that supporting mental health research and eradicating stigma are among NAMI’s goals.

“Mental illness is a physical medical condition, just as diabetes is, and with past and future advances in neuroscience, finding the causes of mental illnesses will lead to better treatments. The hope is that cures are around the corner,” she says.

To learn more about sponsorship or to offer door prize or goodie-bag items, please call the NAMI Memphis office at 725.0305.