Mental Health Matters 5K returning to Cumberland this weekend
Sunday’s race at Greely High School is organized by students involved in the Active Minds / Kyle Cares organization.
Tell us about what you have planned and why this is so important, more than just what’s gonna be happening on the race course. So this upcoming Sunday we have our, um, our 3rd annual 5K which we do every year. It’s our goal is to raise money so we can put, um, we can put on more events to help spread awareness on mental health, and it’s always *** fun activity for everyone. We look forward to it. And it’s it’s really fun and you have some people from outside organizations too that are gonna be having booths set up to help spread their message. Tell me about the the overall message of this event and what you’re trying to get across. Yeah, I’d say that uh the overall message is to definitely just grow the conversation about mental health. It’s such *** huge part of the community. It’s such *** huge part of growing up and I think especially in our society right now it’s such *** big conversation, um, so spreading awareness. Being comfortable with those conversations is so important in getting the community involved so people know that like we can talk about this and it’s important for people of any age when you talk about mental health, sometimes these conversations are for lack of *** better term, kind of sanitized and it it is expressly written into your mission that you work to educate and also prevent self harm and suicide that you’re looking at these issues right in the eye and addressing them directly. For high school students, tell us about why that is, is really part of your mission and core to this. We just know as high school students, both of us, we know it’s hard to, uh, speak out, especially to your peers, definitely, and we just wanna be able, be able to be there for people so we know that we want people to know that they can come to us and, and, and tell us what, what’s going on and hopefully we can listen, help them, and give them what they need. Yeah. Um, I’d say our club being student run, um, being peers that other people feel like they can come to, um, I think being, being relatable, every high school student deals with their own, their own things going on in their lives. Um, no one should feel like they don’t have anyone to talk to, um, and our our club. Mission is to make sure that everyone at our school feels safe and comfortable to talk about their mental health and part of your programming too is not just limited to your peers and high school students you have events where you bring in speakers, but also you mentioned an evening event where people of any age group, parents, grandparents can come and have these difficult conversations and learn. Tell me about that outreach. Yeah, I think that *** big part of community outreach is obviously personal growth in the community, but also educating parents, caregivers and teachers on how to talk to younger people about their mental health. Our society has definitely changed *** lot in the way that we talk. About mental health and educating people on uh the correct way to approach mental health um and in *** way that can keep our whole community safe we want everyone in the community to feel like they’re honored in the community um and feel like their mental health is important. What can people expect if they come out? Um, it’ll be, it’ll be *** lot of fun. I hope, I hope that everyone enjoys it. Um, hopefully we, we keep getting more, uh, more participants by the day, but we’re all looking forward to it. It looks like it’s gonna be some good weather, and I hope it’s *** lot of fun, and you can sign up on race day too, sure can. Anything else that the two of you would like to share about your mission? Um, I just think that we’re definitely hoping to to grow as *** mission. Mental health is something that’s not gonna stop being *** topic of conversation, um, and I think that as students advocating for our peers, advocating for people who aren’t comfortable, um, and just growing that message that it’s OK not to be OK, and um that’s definitely what we want to spread in the community and it’s it’s really cool to see how. Um, all the, all the community, uh, how they support us and how they help us, um, grow at these events and everything and how we were the second chapter in Maine and how we’ve, we’ve now helped other, uh, schools grow and it’s really cool. So now there’s 7 chapters in the state and it’s really cool to see how, um, this club and organization has just grown. Yeah, you’re really right at the forefront of that. Yeah, yeah. All right, Caitlin McCarron and Max Allen, thank you so much for coming in. It’s really good to talk to you.
Mental Health Matters 5K returning to Cumberland this weekend
Sunday’s race at Greely High School is organized by students involved in the Active Minds / Kyle Cares organization.
Updated: 9:29 AM EDT Apr 8, 2026
Students at Greely High School are organizing the third annual Mental Health Matters 5K, scheduled for Sunday, April 12, at 8 a.m., to promote mental health awareness and community outreach. The event is being planned by the Active Minds / Kyle Cares group, co-led by Caitlin McCarron and Max Allen. “The overall message is to definitely just grow the conversation about mental health. It’s such a huge part of the community. It’s such a huge part of growing up. I think, especially in our society right now, it’s such a big conversation. So, spreading awareness, being comfortable with those conversations, is so important and getting the community involved,” McCarron said. “We just know as high school students, both of us, we know it’s hard to speak out, especially your peers. We just want to be able to be there for people. We want people to know that they can come to us and tell us what’s going on, and hopefully we can listen, help them and give them what they need,” Allen said. Gates for the event will open at 7 a.m., and same-day registration will be available.
CUMBERLAND, Maine —
Students at Greely High School are organizing the third annual Mental Health Matters 5K, scheduled for Sunday, April 12, at 8 a.m., to promote mental health awareness and community outreach.
The event is being planned by the Active Minds / Kyle Cares group, co-led by Caitlin McCarron and Max Allen.
“The overall message is to definitely just grow the conversation about mental health. It’s such a huge part of the community. It’s such a huge part of growing up. I think, especially in our society right now, it’s such a big conversation. So, spreading awareness, being comfortable with those conversations, is so important and getting the community involved,” McCarron said.
“We just know as high school students, both of us, we know it’s hard to speak out, especially your peers. We just want to be able to be there for people. We want people to know that they can come to us and tell us what’s going on, and hopefully we can listen, help them and give them what they need,” Allen said.
Gates for the event will open at 7 a.m., and same-day registration will be available.