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3 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,A pril 15,2021 w aterloochronicle.ca Bardish.Chagger@parl.gc.ca - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "To our volunteers, know that your fellow Canadians see you and appreciate your dedication to your communities and our country. We know how much you do, and we are grateful. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I thank all volunteers." Bardish.Chagger Bardish_Chagger BardishKW 519-746-1573 Member of Parliament for Waterloo THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS for making Waterloo an even greater place to live. As challenging as the COVID-19 pandemic has been for most families, I can't imagine how hard it has been on families with kids struggling with men- tal health. The demand for mental health services is increas- ing and Lutherwood Child and Family Foundation is counting on its annual Steps for Kids fundraising walk in May to support children and youth with mental health challenges. "The pandemic's pre- cautionary restrictions have been hard on all of us, particularly on kids strug- gling with their mental health," said Chris Sellers, director of communica- tions and development at Lutherwood. "Calls for support are more than double what they were pre-COVID." Sellers told me how the Steps for Kids fundraiser accounts for a large por- tion of the annual dona- tions needed to support services for children and youth struggling with their mental health. Funds raised through Steps for Kids will directly support programming at Luther- wood's Children Mental Health Centre and Safe Haven Youth Services. It was outside Luther- wood's Children's Mental Health Centre in Waterloo where I met up with Chris Sellers and Lutherwood program director Jenni Jackson to talk about Steps for Kids and this year's theme, "26,000 Steps for 26,000 Kids." They explained that one in five children or youth have a treatable mental health condition, and with 130,000 children and youth living in Waterloo Region, that means about 26,000 need help. "And that was before the pandemic increased those numbers," added Sellers. Last year, the Steps for Kids event, which typically attracts between 600 and 700 supporters, had to pivot and go virtual due to pan- demic restrictions. As the program director at Lutherwood, Jackson has seen firsthand the challenges and stressors people face through the pandemic. "Pre-COVID, we were al- ready living in a rat-race culture that creates a lot of anxiety in peoples' lives, trying to keep up all the time," she said. "On one hand, COVID has offered space for really slowing down, but on the other hand it has provided space for a lot of fear and uncertainty and unpre- dictability. And a lot of anx- iety we're seeing in people stems from the unknown and the fear of what we're living through." Jackson told me that Lu- therwood has persevered during the pandemic, al- though everyone eagerly awaits a time when face-to- face interactions can hap- pen again. "People were doing vir- tual work long before CO- VID, and we learned from those who were working with clients in remote com- munities because they couldn't deliver services in person," she said. "So the skills we've de- veloped and our ways of adapting over the past year will continue to be benefi- cial to our community. But it will be nice to return to in-person because we all need that human connec- tion, especially at times when people are really struggling." Sellers chimed in: "And the beauty of the virtual Steps for Kids event is that you can walk, run, or wheel whenever you like, wher- ever you are. What matters is that people get outside, get some fresh air and be active, all of which support physical and mental health. We are all so tired of being cooped up." Steps for Kids is held during Children's Mental Health Week, May 2-8. Reg- ister as an individual or create a team to maximize the fun. Teams can partici- pate together or apart and combine their distances to complete the challenge. The 2021 Steps for Kids has three different chal- lenges to pick from -- choose one or do all three. Did you know that 26,000 steps are approximately 20 kilometres? The goal is dis- tance, not speed -- take your time, you have a whole week. Register or donate at lu- therwoodstepsforkids.ca. Marshall Ward is a freelance writer and artist. Check out his award-win- ning podcast "Bonn Park" with Sara Geidlinger on Apple Podcasts, Insta- gram, Twitter and Face- book. OPINION EVERY STEP COUNTS FOR CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH STEPS FOR KIDS ANNUAL FUNDRAISER SUPPORTS CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING AT LUTHERWOOD, WRITES MARSHALL WARD MARSHALL WARD Column Jenni Jackson and Chris Sellers of Lutherwood Child and Family Foundation. Marshall Ward photo