Submitted Photo
Presenting a check to Nexus-PATH are Dan Conrad, CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North
Dakota and board chair of BCBSND Caring Foundation, left, and Amber Blomberg, executive director of the BCBSND Caring Foundation, center. Kate Coughlin, executive director of Nexus-PATH Family Healing, is at right.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota (BCBSND) Caring Foundation has announced a $22,900 donation to Nexus-PATH Family Healing, a nonprofit serving North Dakota families and youth struggling with emotional and behavioral health challenges.
The funds were raised through the Strike Out the Stigma campaign, a partnership with the Bismarck Larks, Minot Hot Tots, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks and the Badlands Big Sticks, a new team to the Strike Out the Stigma lineup.
Over 62 games, the four teams collectively threw 458 strikeouts. At $50 a strikeout, that is $22,900 being donated to address the mental health needs of youth across the state.
Strike Out the Stigma was created to help normalize and encourage conversations about mental health within North Dakota. According to the BCBSND Caring Foundation’s Social Determinants of Health Study, 46% of North Dakotans, or more than 355,000 people, live in areas without easy access to mental health professionals.
“Nexus-PATH will use the donations to restore hope and reshape futures for children and their families struggling with complex mental health challenges who need help in meeting their needs,” said Kate Coughlin, Nexus-PATH Family Healing executive director. “Strike Out the Stigma funds will allow Nexus-PATH to wrap services around these youth and families with additional tools and support, like independence skills, arts and activities, specialty therapies, family programs, and welcoming spaces for supportive well-rounded programs that create a path to a brighter future.”
