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Stories of Support: Youer Than You Benefit Raises Over $6,000 for CMHA WW

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“Today you are YOU, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.” With this Dr. Seuss quote the Youer Than You fundraiser was launched. The whimsical mental health benefit was the brainchild of Chef Jon Rennie. The Waterloo based chef has a history of giving back through food events, but wanted to do something on a larger scale this time. Just four months shy of the May 10th Youer Than You event, Rennie posted to Facebook that he had an idea to create an event where people could come as they are, open, inclusive and genuine to support mental health in the community.

Within 24 hours, 75 people volunteered to help, many from the hospitality industry. “I would receive messages daily from people asking how they could jump on board, it wasn’t just a charity to them, they couldn’t help but give back,” says Rennie “it just shows the extent to which everyone is impacted by mental health.” Rennie has been open about his personal mental health struggles and as the planning of the event unfolded, he found others became open about their own struggles or those that are close to them. “I hadn’t anticipated how much people would open up. It created a safe space because I was open and helped me encourage others to seek help,” says Rennie.

The hospitality industry is known to be stressful, with long and odd work hours, a difficult work/life balance, short breaks and constant time and performance pressure to produce. All of this can take a significant toll on mental health, which can lead to negative coping mechanisms such as alcohol and drug abuse. Rennie says “the younger generation coming into the hospitality industry and the tragic loss of Anthony Bordain has started to open up the conversation about mental health in the hospitality industry, but there is a long way to go as there is still an attitude that ‘that is the way it has always been.’”


This year Youer Than You raised over $6,000 for safeTALK and Mental Health First Aid training sessions to ensure community members become more alert to mental health struggles. Next year, Rennie hopes to hold the event again and raise money for mental health training specific to the hospitality industry. Thank you Jon and thank you to your committee and network of friends. It takes a community approach to bring awareness to mental health and that is exactly what you are doing!

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