ROB MURRAY: I’m joined by Scott Walker who is organizing and is part of the 24 Hours for Bipolar hiking event taking place over the August long weekend. This event is something you’ve been doing for the last number of years. You actually did quite well with fundraising last year, didn’t you?

SCOTT WALKER: We were fortunate to fundraise a little over $5,100. Part of that was a silent auction last year, it was the first year friends and I had done a silent auction. We’re really grateful for all the support from amazing and generous local and non-local companies.

RM: Is the silent auction back this year?

SW: It is, and thankfully we have a better platform this year, so it’ll be easier for people to bid.

RM: For those who aren’t familiar, what exactly is it that you do with this 24 Hours for Bipolar event?

SW: It’s the seventh annual bipolar awareness fundraising hike that friends and I have done. With the 24 Hours event, friends and I and general public hike Tunnel Mountain. There are seven friends of mine this year joining me in hiking Tunnel Mountain for the full 24 hours, and then anyone is more than welcome to come and join us for lap or two or more. That being said, it’s not a race. The point of this event isn’t to see how many laps of Tunnel we can hike within the 24 hours. The intention of the event is to embrace our theme, which is Together is Better, and to have people come out and connect with existing friends, potentially meet new friends, and possibly have conversations around mental health in general and/or bipolar disorder specifically. Last year we had over 70 people join us. It’s really to raise awareness and reduce stigma for people living with bipolar disorder, like myself, and to raise funds for two very worthy causes. One of which is supporting students in financial need for athletic programs at Banff Community High School, and the other cause is assisting the International Bipolar Foundation with the amazing free resources they provide.

RM: You had 70 people join you for at least one lap last year, you have seven friends joining you for the full 24 hours this year. I mean, it sounds like this event has really caught on.

SW: Every year it seems to get bigger and bigger, and more and more people and local companies get involved. This morning I was picking up a few silent auction items from a few local businesses and people are asking me, “When’s it happening?” and saying “I’m going to come out for a lap.” It’s just really exciting to see different people getting excited about it.

RM: What else is new this year for the 24 Hours for Bipolar?

SW: We’re really fortunate that the Banff Canmore Community Foundation is accepting online donations on our behalf, which is huge because that means people are automatically issued a tax receipt. The Banff Canmore Community Foundation is also promoting the event. Another new thing is that Defending Awesome, which is a local Banff company that’s done the logoed shirts and caps for previous events, Jim at Defending Awesome is making dry fit custom shirts for the eight of us doing the full 24 hours.

RM: How can people donate? Where can people find the silent auction? If people want to join you for a lap, how can they do that?

SW: In terms of joining for lap, they’re welcome to come at any time. We start on Saturday, July 31st, at 5:00 PM from the lower parking lot on St. Julian Road. It finishes on Sunday, August 1st, at 5:00. We will be doing a lap approximately every hour and a half. In terms of finding out more about the event, donating to the silent auction, etc, the best would be to go to my website. I’d love to see anyone come out who is able, and to see people check out the silent auction items and possibly make the donation as well.

Filed under: Banff, Mental Health