The second annual 5k "Walk For A Cure For Mental Illness" to be held in the Tri-State area was held on Sunday, June 1st, at the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston, New Jersey .
Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti LLP co-sponsored the event with NARSAD, the National Alliance For Research Of Schizophrenia And Depression. A leader in the field of research for new treatments for mental illness, NARSAD will receive all proceeds from the walk, which currently total $4200.
Special guests at the event included Executive Director of NARSAD Steven Doochin and Jessica Lynch, the current reigning Miss New York City, whose platform in this year's Miss America pageant is teen depression and suicide.
The walk is held in memory of Alan Dutka, who struggled with mental illness for 8½ years and tragically ended his own life. Alan's mother, Toby Serrouya, started the event last year to raise awareness of the plight of the mentally ill and to raise the necessary monies needed for NARSAD to continue their vital ongoing research projects for new treatments for mental illness. Ms. Serrouya believes that this upcoming fundraising event is essential because, in her own words, "Mental illness is the stepchild of all fundraising endeavors, even on the Congressional level. The moment in time is now to stop hiding behind the belief that we do not have mental illness in our schools, in our workplaces, in our churches and synagogues, in our communities and in our families."
For more information about this important issue, please see NARSAD's website, or Miss New York City's website, www.missnycity.org.
