Oct. 21, 2022

WHAT: URI’s 2022 Be 5K Walk/Run for Mental Health Awareness, Suicide Prevention to be held Oct. 23. Participants will walk and run on the Kingston Campus in the 14th annual event. Proceeds raised by the event go to the Heather Fund, a URI Foundation & Alumni Engagement fund established to support mental health programs for students. It was established by the late Roger and Josephine Vennewald in 1996, on behalf of their daughter, Heather, a URI student, who they lost to suicide. The event is called the Be 5K because it urges participants and the URI community to be compassionate, loving, hopeful, aware, present, happy and to be themselves to build a healthier community. It is the oldest community outreach event on campus dedicated to mental health promotion and suicide prevention.

WHO: Students, faculty, staff and community members. As in past years, URI student groups focused on mental health promotion will participate, as well as those from URI’s  Counseling Center, Health Services, URI Couple and Family Therapy Clinic, Campus Recreation, Center for Career and Experiential Education, and the Psychological Consultation Center. BH Link, a behavioral health facility that provides immediate assistance to a person in crisis through intervention services, and connects people to ongoing treatment and care, will also participate. 

WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. Walk/race starts at 10 a.m. Walk-up registration opens at 8:30 a.m.

WHERE: Kingston Campus Quadrangle, race starts in front of Ranger Hall rain or shine. However, In the event of rain, walk-up registration and groups providing information and resources will be located in the Higgins Welcome Center, 45 Upper College Road. GPS address is 75 Briar Lane.

TO COVER THE EVENT: Contact Dave Lavallee, URI Marketing and Communications, 401-874-5862, cell, 401-465-4291, dlavallee@uri.edu.