A unique fundraiser in support of local mental health services will take participants on a driving tour like no other this July.
A car rally is being organized by Katie Gilligan, owner of Timeless Harmony Salon and Spa in Newmarket, who has brought in The Flood Brothers. The company has been running these adventure activities for decades and Gilligan has participated in many over the years but this is her first time on the organizing side of things.
“It is an absolutely incredibly fun-filled day for families,” she said.
This one will take place on Sunday, July 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with proceeds going to the mobile clinic for youth provided by Canadian Mental Health Association York Region and South Simcoe
Participants will start at Timeless Harmony on Leslie Street, where they will receive a piece of paper with directions to an unknown spot, there they will have to complete a task or answer some questions. This will continue throughout the rally until all the tasks have been completed.
It's often bizarre but fun activities, Gilligan said.
"We had to milk a cow and we had to get two drops of milk out of a cow. We went to a farm in Stouffville. Do you know how hard it is? It took me 10 minutes,” she said of one of the past rallies in which she took part.
One objective of the event is to have fun and stay safe, which is why it doesn't matter how fast you go, but rather how far you go. The winner will be determined by who does it in the right amount of kilometres with the most correct answers and completed tasks.
“He knows exactly how many kilometres it takes to do this rally. If you come back 10 kilometres under, you missed something and if you come back 100 kilometres over, you got totally lost. That’s the fun part, too,” Gilligan said.
There will be prizes for first and second place, as well as prizes for best car and best costume.
“The whole point is to bring fun into a world that maybe for some is not fun,” Gilligan said.
Through her work at the salon, she said, she has seen more and more clients filling out on their forms that they are on some kind of medication for their mental health.
“It’s desperately needed and I think this is our new pandemic which we’re going into is mental health,” she said. “We’re going to be going into a next level of anxiety, stress, depression. It’s just going to get worse.”
Gilligan said she wants to support the local CMHA so they can continue providing support and services to those who need it. The funds raised will go toward the MOBYSS bus, a youth mental health mobile clinic.
"Young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience mental illness or substance use disorders than any other group," said Yolanda Mol Amelink, donor engagement officer with CMHA York Region South Simcoe.
However, she said only one in five Canadian kids receive the mental health services they need, which is where MOBYSS comes in. The bus is entirely donor funded and relies on events like this car rally to keep it rolling.
"We're very fortunate to have a number of dedicated supporters to fundraise on our behalf," Mol Amelink said.
While she has only been with the organization a short while, she said as far as she knows this car rally is a first for them in terms of fundraisers.
Registration is open now online. It costs $100 per vehicle and you can fit as many people as you have seatbelts for, but there must be a minimum of two people in each car.
Timeless Harmony is also organizing a vendor market that will be set up in its parking lot on the day of the rally. Rally participants will also get 20 per cent off orders at The Lion Pub and Grill to enjoy a meal and refuel after the race.
