Airdrie's Thumbs Up Foundation hosts golf tournament and music festival to advance suicide-prevention work

The Thumbs Up Foundation is hosting two summer events in Airdrie to raise awareness and funds for mental health and suicide prevention, honouring its mission of celebrating how its namesake lived rather than how he died.

The 2026 Thumbs Up Charity Golf Tournament runs from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 20 at Woodside Golf Course. Players can register as a twosome or foursome on a first-come, first-served basis. This is the 11th annual tournament, dedicated to raising funds for the Foundation's work.

Kim Titus, chair of the Thumbs Up Foundation, said the events bring the community together around the organization's core mission. "We have the golf tournament to help raise funds and it's always a really, really great day and [everyone is] supportive of our mission, which is to create a world where there's zero suicide," Titus said.

Peace in the Park, Thumbs Up's annual community music festival, returns on September 19 at Nose Creek Park in Airdrie as part of Resiliency Awareness Month. Now in its fifth year, the event features live music, health and wellness vendors, and food trucks. The festival celebrates what Titus calls "healers, helpers, and heroes—individuals and organizations that strengthen community well-being and make the world a kinder place."

This year's festival will feature a guest speaker who has undergone a harmonized health approach to care. A 50-50 raffle will raise funds for Universal Rehabilitation Service Agency (URSA), which provides services complementary to Thumbs Up's work.

Titus emphasized the Foundation's philosophy of focusing on life rather than loss. "We consciously decided to focus on how we lived, and now how he left, and that's why we do the music festival," she said. "That was a big part of his hobbies and passions and interests."