Sophie Hack MacLeod

Friend of MHA Award for The Sophie Fund

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The Sophie Fund has received the 2023 Friend of the Mental Health Association Award from the Mental Health Association in New York State (MHANYS). The honor was presented to Scott MacLeod, co-founder of The Sophie Fund, at the organization’s Annual Awards Dinner in Albany on October 23.

Josephine Gibson, executive director of the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County (MHATC), nominated The Sophie Fund for the award for its “unwavering commitment to our community’s mental health and supporting the mission of the Mental Health Association.”

She described The Sophie Fund as an “ally” and “fast friend” which “has made a major impact on our reach and ability to provide quality mental health education and support services to community members.”

Gibson said that The Sophie Fund enabled her organization to host book talks with authors who write about mental health, provide free Mental Health First Aid trainings to workers in the hospitality industry and staff and students at Tompkins Cortland Community College, hire a paid intern to engage in advocacy work at Cornell University, and educate the community at large.

Just recently, she added, The Sophie Fund collaborated with the Mental Health Association to organize a youth art show to culminate National Bullying Prevention Month.

Gibson also cited The Sophie Fund’s leadership in various community initiatives, such as the Tompkins County Suicide Prevention Coalition and the Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force. She said The Sophie Fund worked with her organization to help ensure that the voices of its peer specialists were included in such initiatives.

The Sophie Fund was established as a community advocacy organization by MacLeod and his wife Susan Hack in memory of their daughter Sophie, a Cornell University student who died by suicide in Ithaca in 2016. The organization supports mental health initiatives aiding young people in the Ithaca area.

Accepting the award, MacLeod said that The Sophie Fund was humbled by the recognition but focused credit on service organizations like the Mental Health Association for providing face to face, day to day support to those in need.

Scott MacLeod, speaking at the MHANYS Annual Awards Dinner

“We thank Josephine Gibson and her incredibly devoted and experienced team at the Mental Health Association for nominating The Sophie Fund ,” MacLeod said. “We thank them for the essential work they do to support mental health in our community. We feel extremely privileged and honored for the opportunity to work together in this mission.”

The MHANYS awards dinner was hosted by Executive Director Glenn Liebman and attended by more than 100 people, including New York State Mental Health Commissioner Ann Marie Sullivan and Patricia Fahy, chair of the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Higher Education.

Ann Marie Sullivan and Glenn Liebman

Patricia Fahy, speaking at the MHANYS Annual Awards Dinner

MHANYS, an affiliate of Mental Health America, was incorporated in 1960 and has 26 affiliates in 50 counties throughout New York State. Its mission is to improve the lives of individuals, families, and communities by raising mental health awareness, ending stigma and discrimination, and promoting wellness and recovery.

Note from MHANYS about the bell that adorns its awards:

During the early days of mental health treatment, asylums often restrained persons with mental illnesses with iron chains and shackles around their ankles and wrists. Clifford Beers, the founder of the Mental Health Association movement, experienced and witnessed many of these and other abuses. After his own recovery, he became a leading figure in the movement to reform the treatment of, and attitudes toward, mental illness. With better understanding and treatments, cruel practices eventually stopped.

In the early 1950s, in the lobby of the national headquarters in New York City, the Mental Health Association collected discarded chains and shackles from asylums across the country. All of these restraints were then shipped to the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore where they were dropped into a crucible and cast into a 300 pound bell with the inscription “Cast from shackles which bound them, this bell shall ring out hope for the mentally ill and victory over mental illness.”

Photo credits: MHANYS

Donate to The Sophie Fund: Our 2023 Appeal

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Please consider making a donation today to support The Sophie Fund’s work on mental health initiatives aiding young people in the Ithaca and Tompkins County communities. Every year, we mark Sophie’s birthday on August 23 by launching our annual fundraising appeal. Thank you for being part of the mental health mission!

To Make a Donation:

Click Here for The Sophie Fund Donation Page

Current goals in need of funding include:

—Tompkins County’s United in Kindness community events in October for Bullying Prevention Month (an art exhibition for students and a cyberbullying symposium for school staff and parents).

—Training in mental health and suicide prevention for Ithaca-area clinicians, social workers, and community members.

—Collaborating with Cornell University and Ithaca College student organizations to campaign against sexual assault on college campuses.

—Hosting our 8th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest on October 14 to raise awareness about mental health.

A few highlights of The Sophie Fund’s work since our last fundraising appeal in August 2022:

Zero Suicide Initiative. We sponsored two suicide prevention presentations for Tompkins County healthcare leaders in 2023 by Dr. Brian Ahmedani, one of the nation’s leading experts on the Zero Suicide Model.

Youth Suicide Prevention. We provided a grant to enable 60 local healthcare professionals to attend a two-day online training in youth suicide prevention featuring some of the nation’s leading experts hosted by The Wellness Institute.

New York States Suicide Prevention Council. We were appointed to serve on the Council, which advises the New York State Office of Mental Health on suicide prevention policies.

My Mental Health Resources. The Sophie Fund created a digital guide to local mental health resources in collaboration with Tompkins County Whole Health, Cayuga Health System, Guthrie Cortland, and the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service.

Be Safe at College. We created a digital guide for local college students to raise awareness and provide resources related to the high prevalence of sexual assault on local local campuses.

A Parent’s Guide to College Student Mental Health. We published updated versions of a resource pamphlet to help families navigate mental health challenges their students attending local colleges may face.

Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force. The Sophie Fund is the coordinator of a task force to combat youth bullying. In October 2022, the task force launched the first-ever United in Kindness series of community events and activities to raise awareness about bullying and domestic abuse and promote kindness and empathy.

United in Kindness. We awarded a grant to Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca to provide two United in Kindness events: a free community screening of the film Wonder and a symposium for parents on child online safety.

Tompkins County Suicide Prevention Coalition. The Sophie Fund chairs the coalition’s healthcare work group, which is organizing a Town Hall to inform the community about Tompkins County’s Zero Suicide Initiative.

Fighting Sexual Assault. The Sophie Fund’s website published a series of in-depth articles highlighting the prevalence of sexual assault on the campuses of Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Tompkins Cortland Community College.

Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest. We hosted the 7th annual contest in the Ithaca Commons. The contest brings together college and high school students, mental health providers, local musicians, business sponsors, and the general public to raise awareness about mental health.

Cupcake Button Campaign. The Sophie Fund organized its annual fundraising effort with college students to raise nearly $1,000 for the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Better Together for Mental Health. We co-sponsored the first-ever, county-wide, stigma-busting mental health festival, attended by some 600 people, which featured live bands, nature walks, face painting, free street food, and information tables with local mental health providers.

College Interns. We provided a Spring 2023 semester internship for Lyndsey Honor, an Ithaca College student, who wrote three excellent articles about mental health heroes for our website.

For more information on The Sophie Fund’s work, please visit:

http://www.thesophiefund.org

Thank You!

Cornell Students Supporting Our Mental Health

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Cornell University student organizations participating in The Sophie Fund’s 2022 “Cupcake Button” fundraising campaign collected $902.57 for the Finger Lakes chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

NAMI’s Elisa Tobia and Sandra Sorensen with APO’s Sanvi Bhardwaj, PATCH’S Ashley Teal and Orell Rayhan, and Circle K’s Max Fante

The organizations taking part were Alpha Phi Omega Gamma Chapter (APO), Cornell Circle K, and Pre-Professional Association Towards Careers in Health (PATCH). At a luncheon at the Statler Hotel on February 8, leaders of the groups handed over a check from the campaign to NAMI-Finger Lakes Executive Director Sandra Sorensen.

“One of the goals of NAMI-Finger Lakes is to diversify who we are reaching with our services, and young adults are on our list,” said Sorensen. “Through this fundraiser we were not only able to connect with The Sophie Fund, but with several Cornell student service organizations.”

Sorensen said that she appreciated the luncheon discussion with student leaders around mental health issues, including the struggles of receiving mental health services on an elite academic campus such as Cornell and future collaborations on programming and fundraising. 

“It is very hopeful to see the changes that have occurred over years of really hard work by many people and organizations in the mental health arena surrounding stigma,” she added. “There is still so much work to be done, but our young adults are more free than previous generations were to discuss and advocate for their own mental illness and for their friends and family who are struggling.”

The Sophie Fund organizes the Cupcake Button campaign and the related Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest each fall to promote mental health awareness and raise monies for local nonprofits supporting community mental health. Donors receive a Cupcake Button featuring the image of a cupcake created by Sophie Hack MacLeod, a Cornell art student who died by suicide in 2016 for whom The Sophie Fund is named.

Max Fante of Circle K said participating in the fundraising for NAMI-Finger Lakes along with supporting the related 7th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest last October was an “unforgettable experience” in “doing meaningful service through direct community engagement.”

“Circle K members were able to interact with NAMI members and learn about new ways to contribute to mental health improvement on the Cornell campus,” he said. “Overall, Circle K is glad to have played a role in destigmatizing mental illness and spreading awareness in Ithaca.”

Orell Rayhan of PATCH said that her organization works to educate its future health professionals about mental health.

“We like to provide an opportunity for our members to understand and destigmatize mental health, as it could affect them or their patients in the future,” said Rayhan. “The Sophie Fund and NAMI helped us do just that. We were able to provide our members with a story and meaning behind what these amazing organizations do, allowing them to connect on a much deeper level with the cause they worked with.”

Scott MacLeod, co-founder of The Sophie Fund, expressed his appreciation for the student activism in support of mental health.

“Cornell student leaders are passionate about mental health,” he said. “These organizations do fantastic work to advocate for improvements in services and campus climate. The Sophie Fund is grateful for the chance to partner with groups like APO, Circle K, and PATCH.”

MacLeod said Cupcake Button campaigns began in 2017. Student organizations have raised a total of $5,568.88 for six local nonprofits supporting mental health: Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service, Mental Health Association in Tompkins County, Advocacy Center of Tompkins County, the Village at Ithaca, The Learning Web, and NAMI-Finger Lakes.

Donate to The Sophie Fund: Our 2022 Appeal

thesophiefund

Please consider making a donation today to support The Sophie Fund’s work on mental health initiatives aiding young people in the Ithaca and Tompkins County communities. Sophie would have turned 30 on August 23 this week, and we are marking the occasion to launch our 2022 fundraising appeal.

To Make a Donation:

Click Here for The Sophie Fund Donation Page

Current goals in need of funding include:

—Funding United in Kindness community events in October for Bullying Prevention Month.

—Funding training in mental health and suicide prevention for clinicians, social workers, and community members.

—Collaborating with student organizations to campaign against sexual assault on college campuses.

—Hosting our 7th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest to raise awareness about mental health (In person again this year, in the Ithaca Commons October 15.)

A few highlights of The Sophie Fund’s work since our last fundraising appeal in 2021:

Zero Suicide Initiative. We hosted a series of five presentations and trainings for Tompkins County healthcare leaders, primary care physicians, clinicians, and social workers to advance an evidence-based model of suicide care.

My Mental Health Resources. The Sophie Fund created a quick guide to local mental health resources downloadable to smart phones.

A Parent’s Guide to College Student Mental Health. We published a resource pamphlet to help families navigate mental health challenges their students may face.

Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force. The Sophie Fund is the coordinator of a community task force to combat youth bullying. The task force sponsored “What to Do About Cyberbullying,” a United in Kindness symposium featuring national and local experts on digital media and school climate.

Make Kindness Go Viral! The Sophie Fund funded and organized a student art and essay contest hosted by the Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force.

Tompkins County Suicide Prevention Coalition. The Sophie Fund chaired a work group that wrote the coalition’s Three-Year Strategic Plan 2022-2025 guided by a vision “for a community where no lives are lost to suicide” and using data, science, and collaborations to implement effective strategies. 

Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest. We hosted the sixth annual contest (virtual edition, due to Covid-19). The contest brings together college and high school students, mental health providers, local businesses, and the general public to raise awareness about mental health.

Mental Health First Aid. The Sophie Fund provided grants to Tompkins Cortland Community College and the Mental Health Foundation to provide training to clinicians, students, and community members.

Breaking Our Silence: Storytelling for Mental Health. The Sophie Fund sponsored a series of film, theater, dance, literature, music, and other activities “to increase empathy, build understanding, and help lift the shroud of shame and secrecy around mental illness.”

Delia Divided. The Sophie Fund sponsored the Civic Ensemble ReEntry Theatre Program’s premier of a play exploring the impacts of mental health, incarceration, and racism.

Ithaca College Interns. We hosted two interns from Ithaca College during the 2021-22 academic year to write about mental health for our website: Matt Minton and Jordan Mast.

For more information on The Sophie Fund’s work, please visit:

http://www.thesophiefund.org

Thank You!