At Spring Fling, walkers focus on mental health

Freeport’s Cow Meadow Park was bustling with excitement and wagging tails last Saturday as the South Shore Guidance Center hosted its annual Spring Fling Dog Walk. The event brought together community members, local schools, and four-legged friends to raise awareness of mental health and support the services provided by the Guidance Center.

The center, in Freeport, belongs to the EPIC Family of Human Service Agencies, a Long Island organization that seeks to benefit those with epilepsy as well as intellectual and emotional challenges through a variety of programs. It is an outpatient behavioral health clinic offering a wide range of services, including individual, group, and family psychotherapy, substance abuse treatment, crisis stabilization, and medication-assisted treatment.

The event had more than 150 attendees — people and dogs — and raised $8,000 of its $20,000 goal.

“This year’s event was a tremendous success, and helped bring our community together in a meaningful way to support mental wellness,” said Lisa Burch, EPIC’s chief executive. “The Spring Fling Dog Walk for Mental Wellness is an event we look forward to every year, and we were overjoyed by the incredible turnout. In addition to bringing together the community to endorse mental wellness and tangibly show the strength of support residents have for one another, the funds that were raised will further enhance our ability to provide necessary advocacy and counseling services throughout Long Island that truly make a difference in people’s lives. We’re grateful to everyone who participated, donated and volunteered to make this day a success.”

The event featured family-friendly activities and a dog walk through the park, and performances by the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp and the Freeport High School Color Guard added to the excitement. The J.W. Dodd Middle School Select Chorale sang “America the Beautiful,” and village Trustee Jorge A. Martinez spoke about the importance of community support for mental health initiatives.

The money raised will help support the guidance center’s behavioral health services and advocacy initiatives. It will help expand access to mental health resources, provide critical support to those in need, and enhance the center’s efforts to promote mental wellness in the community.

“The success of the Spring Fling Dog Walk was a testament to the strength and generosity of the Freeport community,” Irene Rodgers, EPIC’s associate executive director of development and epilepsy services, said. “Participants came together to support a cause that touches many lives, demonstrating a collective commitment to improving mental health and wellness. The event also provided an opportunity for community members to learn more about the services offered by the South Shore Guidance Center and how they can get involved in future initiatives.”

The event goes beyond a community gathering, serving as an initiative to highlight mental health issues. Fittingly, it takes place in May, observed as Mental Health Awareness Month.

“When people come together for events like this … they see that they’re not alone — that there are other people who are also trying to get through, day to day, and that there’s a whole community there for them,” Rodgers said.

To find out more, or to contribute to the guidance center’s fundraising efforts, go EPIC’s fundraising page, https://www.epicli.org/fundraising/donation/