Students and faculty can participate in the Be5K race remotely this year. Graphic from uri.edu.
The University of Rhode Island’s annual Be5K will be held virtually this year, but will maintain the same goal of promoting mental health awareness on campus.
The Be5K supports the Heather Fund, which was created in memory of former student Heather Vennewald by her family after she committed suicide. The fund helps support programs related suicide and depression prevention at URI, particularly in the Counseling Center.
“When we raise money and then add that money to the fund, it’s then used by the Counseling Center to offer additional mental health programming across campus,” Amy Albert, community engagement coordinator for the Center for Career and Experiential Education, said.
In addition to Albert, a committee of five people from departments spanning from Campus Recreation to Health Services worked to plan the Be5K event virtually over the summer due to COVID-19. During the virtual 5K, people can donate at a reduced rate of $5 and run or walk on their own time until Oct. 31.
“We really thought that a virtual event would be a great way to kind of engage our whole community,” Albert said. “As long as you’re following all protocols, you can kind of do the race or the walk or the run anywhere at any time throughout the week.”
After the participants complete the 5K, Albert continues to encourage participants to post their run or walk times on the race entry page and social media with submitted photos or videos from the participants.
URI Clinical Counselor Allison Hall sees the mental health awareness purpose of the Be5K as especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. She emphasized that mental health issues can increase in isolated or quarantine environments.
Albert also sees the Be5K event as a way to raise awareness for all mental health services available to URI students living on and off campus.
“Thinking specifically for students, I think if you’re not on campus, sometimes you forget that the Counseling Center is doing all their one-on-one sessions virtually, and so they’re still there and telehealth is still an option,” Albert said.
Community feedback for the Be5K has been very well received, according to Hall, as the Counseling Center continues to co-sponsor the event.
“I’ve had a lot of feedback from community members who have said, it’s so great because maybe I couldn’t have done it on the schedule day and time, but now I have a whole week, but I can fit it in, or we want to do it as a family and this allows us to do it all together,” Hall said.
The implementation of virtual services for the Be5K proves that the event will continue to promote and raise awareness on mental health and suicide prevention regardless of weather.
While the exact number of registrants for the event has not been announced, Albert said that there are 100 pre-registrations for the event; the same as 2019. The Be5K is open for registration until Oct. 31.