Dollar a Day foundation teams up with St. John's firefighters

An N.L. charity co-founded by Great Big Sea's Alan Doyle has newpartnerships and new beneficiaries.

A Dollar a Day on Monday announced the St. John's Regional Fire Department and a local firefighters' union have signed on with the foundation co-founded by Doyle, Brendan Paddick, and Andrew Furey which encourages daily $1 donations in support of mental health and addictions initiatives.

The Central Fire Station, where Monday's announcement was held,committedto donating $365 to the charity, representing a dollar donation for every day of the year.

New beneficiaries

The newest additions to the list of organizations supported by the foundation are:

• Lang's, a health and wellness clinicin Cambridge, Ont.
• The MHeart program in Woodstock, Ont.,which pairs police officers with crisis workers to better handle mental health and emergency calls.
• Landing Strong in Windsor, N.S., a non-profit assisting people who suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and related injuries.
• The Canadian Mental Health Association's Talk Todayprogram, which promotes mental health in athletics across the country.

St. John's Regional Fire Department Chief Sherry Colford told the crowdthat mental health awareness is of particular value to her and her coworkers.

"As first responders, we see first-hand the devastating impacts of mental health and addictions on the front lines, and are disproportionately impacted ourselves."

Doyle performed at the event, and sang Christmas songs with children in attendance.

"To all the people working in mental health organizations across the country, thank you for doing what you do. You are truly the biggest inspiration to me," he said.

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