User:Andreamays/sandbox

Bell Let's Talk (French: Bell Cause pour la cause) is an advocacy program by Bell Canada which promotes mental health education, research, awareness, and ending social stigma. The initiative is most known for its annual Bell Let's Talk Day, an associated charity fundraiser that occurs early in the new year. The campaign is hosted by female Canadian Olympian, Clara Hughes. Nearly $90 million has been donated to fund mental health advocacy since 2010 when the initiative first started. The funds raised by Bell Canada from this initiative (Bell Let's Talk and other smaller-scale events included) are distributed to numerous mental health organizations across Canada with the goal of creating a stigma-free nation.

Bell Let's Talk Day
With over a quarter of Canadians expressing a feeling of discomfort when around an individual with poor mental health, the Bell Let's Talk initiative encourages Canadians to rethink and learn more about the judgments they associate with the 20% of the population that has been diagnosed with a mental illness. The Bell Let's Talk Day fundraiser occurs annually, typically in late January or early February. On this day, the public can take action via text, phone call, or on various social media platforms. These platforms include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. For each interaction made, Bell Canada makes a small monetary contribution toward mental health awareness. The success of the campaign relies heavily on the help Bell Let's Talk's ambassadors and spokespeople. Ambassadors including Canadian veterans, comedian Kevin Breel, and the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mike Babcock, encourage their fellow Canadians to use their voices on this day to end the silence. By sharing their own experiences, spokespeople such as Howie Mandel and Serena Ryder speak about the differences that were made when they sought help for their own mental health. Hundreds of millions of interactions have been made over previous years because of the following that these well-known celebrities hold.

Clara's Big Ride
Other events are also hosted to promote the Bell Let's Talk campaign. In 2014, campaign host Clara Hughes biked for 110 days to advocate for mental health awareness. The bike ride began in Toronto in mid-March and concluded in Ottawa at the beginning of July on Canada Day. On this 12,000 kilometre journey, Hughes talked about her battle with depression with the thousands of people she met. 95 communities were visited along the way.

Impact
The organizations that receive funding from Bell Canada span a broad range. They vary from small, local initiatives providing affordable care to residents, to public universities conducting research on mental health topics. Over the past 8 years, Bell has worked directly with the government of Canada to provide stronger mental health support to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). They have also provided funding to the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) over the past 6 years, an organization who strives to provide affordable mental healthcare to all Canadians. More recently, Bell partnered with the governments of the Atlantic provinces in 2017 to provide $2 million to the Strongest Families Institute over a span of four years. This partnership will reach above an estimated 2,000 families whose children have been impacted by mental illness in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.