MUSCATINE, Iowa (KWQC) — A fundraiser focused on mental health awareness and resources will take place Saturday in Muscatine, days after a tragedy left seven people dead.
The Empowering Mental Health Together fundraiser was organized by Emily Eichelberger and Tonia McCullough, two women who both lost family members to suicide.
“Mental health is so important. I, myself, have lost a loved one to mental health. She has lost her loved one to mental health. And so now it’s time to come together and fight the stigma to help others,” Eichelberger and McCullough said.
Eichelberger’s brother, Jake, was 32 when he took his own life. McCullough’s daughter, Savannah, was 28.
Barriers to mental health care
McCullough said her daughter faced obstacles when seeking help.
“When my daughter was going through her issues, I tried to get her into therapy. Her employer didn’t cover it, and it would cost her like $104 every visit.
McCullough said she offered to help with the cost, but her daughter would say, “No, no, I’m fine. I’m fine.”
“So I just feel like there wasn’t enough out there,” McCullough said.
The event they’re hosting comes the same week that 52-year-old Ryan McFarland killed six family members before taking his own life.
“I wish he would have known that it was OK to not be OK, and that there’s so much help out there. That there would be people there to support him and walk him through what he thought was the hardest time of his life instead of having to take all that away because he was hurting so bad,” said Eichelberger.
Community event Saturday
The fundraiser will include a darts and bags tournament, a silent auction, raffles, food, and drinks. All proceeds will go back to the Muscatine community.
In 2024, 548 Iowans died by suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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