There is some exciting news brewing in early January 2014 in the mental health world and the Bipolar Babe wants to share it with you first!
Did you know that since 2010, Bell has committed 62.5 million dollars to mental health initiatives in Canada. Every year Bell shares its wonderful one day campaign ‘Bell Let’s Talk Day’ and this year mark it on your calendar for Tuesday, January 28th, 2014.
Bell will donate 5¢ to mental health initiatives for every:
· Text message sent* on Bell network
· Long-distance call made* on Bell network
· Tweet using #BellLetsTalk
· Facebook share of our Bell Let’s Talk image
As of recently, Healthy Minds Canada (www.healthymindscanada.ca), a well-known national organization who raises funds to support mental health and addictions research, has approached me to champion their twitter campaign on the West Coast. Healthy Minds' partnership with Bell Lets Talk is explained here.
The concept seems simple enough, contact 15 solid twitter friends and have them secure two additional twitter contacts rallying 45 fellow twitter Bell Let’s Talk tweeters for the day. It was sure to make an impact, especially if you followed up with your solid contacts and ensured your campaign was flawless. I saw great potential in such a model and decided to take it a step further, and instead of contacting 15 people I scrolled through my loyal 786 followers and chose 122 that I felt would make a difference. I then created a space with detailed instructions on how to participate located here on the babe website and started directly tweeting and recruiting each potential tweeter for the campaign one-by-one. I came up with the concept of calling the campaign the Bell Let’s Talk Twitter Heroes.
I chose well-known Victoria names in the twitter community such as Realtor Scott Garman, Social Media Sean, Investors Group’s Paul Holmes, and organizations such as the Canadian Mental Health Association of BC, BCSS Victoria, and the Our Place Society. I just began this venture and as I wait anxiously for responses, I continue to tweet, invite, and search out new contacts constantly.
I have no doubt that the West Coast community will rally together and realize that one in five people suffer from a mental illness and many resources are needed to help these people. It is in great community spirit that hope is possible and it takes the efforts of many to make a difference. Bell is a change agent in Canada and that money makes a difference. The Bipolar Disorder Society of BC’s Stigma Stomp Program has received funding from Bell in the past and we are grateful that we have been able to deliver our programs in the schools successfully because of it.
You have the option to become a CHAMPION and start your own twitter campaign taking on more than two followers, and this is for the ambitious tweeter hero who wants to take things to new heights in the hopes of raising even more funds for the cause.
THE TRICK IS TO TWEET WITH @Healthy_minds and #BellLetsTalk in the same tweet when you tweet – every time you tweet!
Remember click HERE for detailed instructions on how to participate with @Healthy_Minds on Twitter.
If you are interested in taking part in this wonderful campaign contact Andrea Paquette AKA Bipolar Babe @Bipolar_Babe on Twitter or [email protected] and join us to be part of something great and impactful, raising funds and awareness for mental health initiatives all across Canada.
