ATHABASCA – A 10-day journey from Jasper to Athabasca will come to an end in a just a few hours, as Athabasca’s Lisa Stocking will paddle her way into Riverfront Park, standing on her trusty board after her 650 km voyage down the Athabasca River in support of the River of Hope mental health awareness campaign.
Everyone is invited to meet at the tent with the green balloons in the park near the boat launch this morning to welcome Stocking home. She had 50 km left in her trek to complete the feat when she got in the water this morning, and is expected to arrive between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
In the meantime, there will be hotdogs and drinks for $2, with all funds and donations going toward mental health and suicide awareness, which is where all the funds Stocking has raised for her trip since starting in Jasper Aug. 10 are going.
Stocking partnered with Project All In, Center For Suicide Prevention and Brave Viking as a way of raising funds and awareness for mental health projects and awareness. The initial goal was to collect $1 for each of the 650 kilometres she paddled, but that was easily exceeded early on, but the support has continued to roll in.
“My hope is one-day having support for mental health is approached as having a personal trainer for your mind,” said Stocking in a posting on the Paddle Canada website in July. “Initially, paddling down The Athabasca River from Jasper to Athabasca was just that. A paddler pushing personal boundaries and exploring waterways … Sometimes we have to speak up before we stand up and paddle away.”
In the end, Stocking aims to stop the stigma surrounding mental health issues, ease suffering and create a conversation on the topic.
“So, as I paddle the river on long physically, and mentally exhausting days, I understand that I am choosing to inflict this on myself. Not everyone gets that choice. Many people live trapped in their own minds, unable to walk away from the pain.”
