RACINE COUNTY — A Mental Health Retreat is being held for both community members and veterans on March 25 at the Sealed Air YMCA (8501 Campus Drive, Mount Pleasant) from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The event is being hosted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1391, The YMCA, and is supported by numerous sponsors including Aurora Health Care, Volunteer Center of Racine County, Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps, Salud First, Guitars 4 Vets, Dogs2DogTags (D2DT), Racine County Veteran Services, Sheepish, Mocha Lisa Coffeehouse, Captain John D. Mason, NAMI of Racine County, Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin, and more.
“Here’s a great way to interact with our veteran population, but as well as the community at large and say, ‘Hey, we’re all kind of in this together; we all have the same concerns,'” said Matthew Gorbaty, Mental Health Retreat organizer, Veteran and VFW Post 1391 member.
Mental Health Retreat offerings
At the event, there will be plenty of activities for people to engage in like silent auctions, raffles, yoga, a cornhole tournament, chiropractic care, massages, service dog education, barbers, a blood drive, food, mental health experts on site, and even music, art, and aromatherapy.
Those who donate blood, bring a food item to donate, or a pack of socks will receive a raffle ticket and have the chance to win a prize.
Nervous about attending?
“Please show up to the event. Come find me and come shake my hand. I would like to meet you,” said Gorbaty.
Additionally, the New York Times Bestselling author of The Chris Farley Show, Tom Farley, will be present at the Mental Health Retreat. At 1 p.m., attendees are welcome to have lunch with him.
Farley is also the Community Outreach Coordinator for Rosecrance Health Network, a professional motivational speaker, and a recovery advocate.
“The VFW Post 1391 does a lot for the Racine community. In the past, we’ve been a little more subtle about it. We’ve been a little quieter about it. As this VFW Post approaches 100 years, we really want to show our community that we’re here and show the community what the VFW does, not just for veterans, but for the community. We decided to be a bit more outgoing with this event, think a little bit outside the box, and just do something new and different that everybody would benefit from,” explained Gorbaty.
This Community and Veterans Mental Health Retreat is the start of a series of events that will be put on by the VFW Post 1391 until October 2025, when they celebrate their 100th year.
With these events, they hope to increase community awareness of the organization that aims to support veterans and the Racine community.
For more information about the local post, check out their Facebook page. Questions about the event should be directed to matthew.gorbaty@gmail.com.
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