| April 1, 2023 -- Our first Roundup of 2023 was held on Sunday, March 12, at 7:00 PM via Zoom. Many Grangers joined this fifth Roundup and attendees included CT State Grange President Rob Buck and National Grange President Betsy Huber. Our special guest for this Roundup was Chuck Strand, Executive Director and Board Member, for Rural Minds, a non-profit whose mission is to serve as the informed voice for mental health in rural America, and to provide mental health information and resources. One year ago, National Grange began a long-term partnership with Rural Minds to support Grangers and their families. National Grange, under the leadership of President Betsy Huber, recognized that mental health was a top priority for many Granges and their members throughout the United States, so it chose to partner with Rural Minds. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the importance of addressing this challenge, as mental health is a serious concern to many Grange families in rural areas of the country. Rural Minds founder Jeff Winton was a keynote speaker at the 156th Annual National Grange Convention in Reno, Nevada. Jeff also hosted a workshop to help attendees see the opportunities of strategic partnering. National Grange is encouraging all State, Pomona and Community Granges to promote mental health wellness and awareness.
During my flight home last Fall from Reno, I began to think about next steps for our CT State Grange and Rural Minds. First, I knew I wanted to build a strong, resilient collaboration with people who could make a difference. I immediately called a friend whom I had just recruited to both Granby Grange and Northwestern CT Cyber Lions and said, “I have the prefect initiative for you.” Her name is Kim Becker, a community leader and active citizen in Granby. Kim immediately said she wanted to be part of this exciting new initiative.
So what did we do? With Kim in the lead, we recruited five more members to join her to form a new Lions Club Branch. The new members selected the name “Connecticut 988 Lions Club Branch” as their official branch name. They selected 988 as it is now the new three-digit, nationwide phone number that connects directly to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
One of the first projects for this new branch was to host a tabletop display at a large convention to announce this new initiative in Southbury, CT. For this display, handout material was created: One member created a fact sheet on the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and another member approached a local Suicide Advisory Committee that donated a box full of SWAG, including stress balls, pens, poppers, and koozies. The booth was a great success and all members felt this first project was extremely impactful for all attendees.
Moving forward, members will determine how to spread mental health awareness information, particularly in rural areas, to those in need. Students will research needs in the towns of New Hartford and Barkhamsted, CT, to see what gaps, if any, exist in providing mental health services.
Next, we applied for and received a grant to train two Grange members to be QPR instructor certified. These instructors will offer this training to any interested Community Granges, similar to Granges that already offer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training to its members. By the way, QPR stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer – the three simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. QPR training helps save lives and reduce suicidal behaviors by providing innovative, practical, and proven suicide prevention training. Quality education empowers people, regardless of their background, to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich maneuver save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicidal crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. QPR can be learned in one Gatekeeper course in as little as one hour.
National Grange has launched a new initiative for any Grange that completes one mental health program during the year, in addition to the Grange in Action requirements, to be named as a Golden Grange in Action. I want many of our CT community Granges to be named Golden Granges in Action to showcase our commitment to this initiative and to helping those in need in our communities.
There is so much information and resources on the Rural Mind’s website. I encourage you to check it out at Mental Health Resources — Rural Minds. A donation was made to Rural Minds on behalf of the CT State Grange Lecturer’s Department and Chuck Strand was awarded the very first CT State Grange Lecturer’s Appreciation Award ribbon! (Photo 4462)
Our next Roundup will be held on Sunday, June 11, at 7:00 PM via Zoom and will feature Vince Scholten, California State Grange Agricultural Committee Chairman, who will present on “Hemp & Cannabis: the truth and history behind it”.
I look forward to hearing from each Grange Lecturer about how their Grange is doing. Keep your reports coming to me. And if you need help or would like me to come visit your Grange, PLEASE just ask! For more information, please contact CT State Grange Lecturer Dave Roberts at lecturer@ctstategrange.org or GranbyDavidRoberts@gmail.com , or call 860-469-5067.
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