Olivia Faulkner’22

Social Media and Marketing Director

On September 15, Active Minds put on an event that left an impression on the entire Merrimack community. The organization set up origami birds on sticks on the front lawn of McQuade library, with each bird representing a college student who died by suicide.

Members of the club sat at a table near Cushing with giveaways available for all visitors or for anyone interested in joining the organization. The event went from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, with executive and general board members present all day to spread mental health awareness.

Seeing that national statistic in writing along with the colorful birds made this event hard to miss and made people want to stop and observe.

The mission behind Active Minds is to end the stigma around mental health. We all have a mental health issues, and this is important to keep in mind when interacting with each other.

Active Minds has more in store for Merrimack this semester with both remote or on-campus events. The next event the club puts on is Active Minds National Spirit Week, which will be held from October 19 to 23. A variety of activities will go on during this week, such as grab and go activities, as well as their annual suicide prevention walk.

For remote students, their executive board has activities put in place virtual components as well. They plan to have a fundraising bingo all week, as well as a heavy social media day to educate Merrimack students about the correct way to be speaking about mental health.

For on campus students participating in Active Minds events, the club will be selling masks. If you are in need of PPE, look no further because Active Minds has you covered. This will give students the opportunity to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while spreading mental health awareness, which is the group’s main objective.

Active Minds is looking forward to continuing to educate and support students over the rest of this unpredictable semester.