Bell Let’s Talk mental health awareness campaign supporting Portage

06-févr.-2012Portage’s program for Mentally Ill Chemical Abusers (MICA), a residential drug rehabilitation program for adults suffering from both mental illness and substance abuse, will be one of the beneficiaries of Bell’s annual Let’s Talk Day on February 8, 2012. The Let’s Talk campaign invites all Canadians to talk about mental illness in order to fight the lingering stigma that keeps too many people from seeking the help they need.

On February 8, Bell will donate 5 cents for every text message sent and every long distance call made by Bell and Bell Aliant customers to programs dedicated to mental health, including Hôpital Louis-H. Lafontaine, Hôpital Charles-LeMoyne, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the University of British Columbia, Jeunesse j’écoute, and Portage, among others.

Last year on Bell Let’s Talk Day, 66,079,236 Bell text messages and long distance
calls were made, which translated into $3,303,961.80 for the chosen mental health organisations.

The Bell Let’s Talk mental health initiative is a five-year, $50-million charitable program aimed at providing significant funding to leading mental health hospitals and organisations, driving new workplace initiatives across corporate Canada, and supporting new research.

Portage is very grateful to have been chosen as one of the beneficiaries of Bell’s campaign this year. The MICA Program, established in 1995, treats mental illness and drug addiction as well as their interaction. The program is based on the therapeutic community approach of self-help, mutual support, and positive reinforcement. At the end of treatment, individuals enjoy more autonomy and a better quality of life.

Please support the Bell Let’s Talk campaign and tell your friends and family members on the Bell network that their texts and long distance calls will make a difference on February 8.

There are several ways to do this:

• Follow the campaign on Twitter at @Bell_LetsTalk and join in retweeting the Bell Let’s Talk Day message on February 8. For each such retweet, Bell will donate an additional 5 cents.
• Share your Bell Let’s Talk smile with your Facebook network at https://apps.facebook.com/shareyoursmile