Once again, Christian Virtual School has participated in the CAMH Sunrise Challenge. For the fourth year in a row, students and staff at CVS have woken up with the sun to fundraise and raise awareness for mental health.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health is an organization that leads the world’s research in mental health, and is the driving force behind the Sunrise Challenge. The idea behind the challenge is to raise awareness about the importance of both physical and mental health. CAMH’s aim is to raise funds through this challenge for those who have been affected by mental illness, for those who have lost their lives or a loved one to suicide, and to those who are currently struggling.
Every year that we’ve done this challenge, our Principal Sarah and I go for a walk over the Maitland River. This year as we were approaching the start of the trail we were a little nervous, there was so much fog! We decided to go on the walk regardless, we were there anyways. We are so glad that we did. The views through the fog were incredible, it diffused the light in such a way that felt ethereal. As though a soft downy blanket was laying over us. The sight of both the sun and the moon in the sky at once in soft pastels (pictured in the covered image) reminded us of how incredible these celestial objects are and we were just struck with silent awe of God’s great creation. How perfectly he positioned the stars and planets. How intricately he planned out the spaces between. We’re so thankful for this chance to not only bring awareness to such a meaningful topic such as mental heath but to also get this “bonus” time to spend in the Lord’s presence through His creation.
Participants of the challenge were encouraged to take photos of the sunrise outside of their window, their alarm clock as it’s going off bright and early, or their breakfast they’ve made at the crack of dawn – anything that shows people they’ve completed the challenge that day by waking up early. Participants were also encouraged to take time each day to do something positive for their mental health.
CVS had several students and staff participating in the challenge. Check out the following photos captured by our team:
If you are interested in donating to our team, there is still time! Donations are accepted for the next few weeks. To donate, visit our team page here.
