Pulling Together for Mental Health rowing event raises $125K for veterans and first responders

The third annual Pulling Together for Mental Health rowing event raised over $125,000 for Wounded Warriors Canada on Sunday at Calgary Police Service headquarters in Westwinds.

Eighteen teams participated in the 7-hour continuous event, with rowers taking 5-minute intervals in relay fashion. Co-organizers Jade Wong and Rory Thompson said the combined distance of all participants matched a row from Calgary to Thunder Bay. "What I know is that in terms of distance, everyone all together rowed from (Calgary) all the way to Thunder Bay," Wong said. Thompson added: "We have multiple different communities from veteran, first responder, academia to hospitality, and we're doing something that's good for their fitness, and that's our definition of ultimately good resilience and mental health."

All funds go directly to Wounded Warriors Canada, which delivers services in Calgary. Over the first two annual events, the fundraiser has raised $215,000 combined. Last year's top team distance was 112,000 metres.

VIP rowers included Mayor Jeromy Farkas, Police Chief Katie McLellan, and Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi. Participants included Nick Sealy-Thompson, a veteran who came to Canada in 2016 and has been involved with Wounded Warriors in the United States. "Mental health is a really big and an important issue. It's great to see so many people in Calgary digging in and leaning into this event and the amount of money it raises is amazing," Sealy-Thompson said. Military reservist Alexander Kraft participated with King's Own Calgary Regiment, which has competed for three years. "I've done Spin for Vets before, but never done this rowing event," Kraft said. "We're at the last bit of the rainbow right before the pot of gold, and it's been great. I've seen a lot of people from CPS, medics, EMTs, and people like that I've seen and worked with before and it's good to see some friendly faces."