SPRINGDALE, Ark. — On the morning of Oct. 25, excited students at Springdale High School packed the gym ahead of a big Friday Night Football matchup.
While they're excited to hit the turf, they’re welcoming some special guests who will take the court a few miles down the road at Bud Walton Arena.
Coach John Calipari of the Arkansas Razorbacks and Coach Bill Self with the Kansas Jayhawks were the guests of honor.
The pep rally was geared towards raising awareness of common mental health issues.
“Kids now, what they're dealing with is a lot more than we've had to deal with growing up,” said Calipari. “What social media and cell phones have done, where anybody can direct message you— and a direct message may be nasty.”
CareSource sponsored the pep rally in partnership with Jay's Light, an organization founded in memory of Jayda Grant. Grant was a 20-year-old woman who took her own life in 2022 after suffering from anxiety and depression.
Grant's mother said in a recorded message, “Jayda was full of life, promise, and hope. She wanted to use her life to help people in some way. I don't think my daughter wanted to end her life as much as she wanted to end the pain that she was experiencing.”
Jay's Light Fund and CareSource presented a $10,000 dollar check to help bring more mental health resources to Springdale High.
“Everybody has a bad day, right?,” said David Donohue with CareSource. “But when those bad days become your every day, our job is to make sure that those people have resources and can get back to living their life. We get them the access they need and make sure that they can stay mentally behaviorally strong and healthy."
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