Jessica F. Simmons

WILSON N.C — In honor of the death of a friend, and in light of Mental Health Awareness month, the Barton College’s tennis team will be raising money in attempts to spread awareness for mental health. 

“A couple of things happened this semester that affected a lot of guys on the team… It woke us up to the world of mental illnesses,” said Alessandro Gerbino, member of the men’s tennis team. 

“We all thought that something like this couldn’t happen to us, but it did… After that, we felt like we had to do something about it, so we did this, [the fundraiser], to create awareness,” he said.

Together, the team purchased 200 bracelets for their cause. 

Gerbino said that the reason the team chose bracelets were so they could always carry them around.

Each bracelet will be sold for two dollars. According to Gerbino, all profits will go to The Russ Devereux Headlight Project (TheRDHP).

“The Russ Devereux Headlight Project was the most obvious organization to choose from. It was also chosen because it’s based in Europe, and the majority of us, [men on the tennis team], are from Europe so it only made sense,” said Gerbino.

TheRDHP is a nonprofit organization that was founded in memory of Russ Devereux, a victim of mental illness. It is also a registered charity that teaches children about mental health, provides support and help for adults, and works to deliver emotional resilience workshops and counseling to partnered organizations.

 The team chose Dean of Student Life, Joe Dlugos, to be the fundraiser’s staff advisor.

“When the students came to me, I was surprised but not really at the same time,” said Dlugos. 

“This is something that students here do [at Barton]… [But], this is something we actually haven’t seen before. The men’s tennis team designed the bracelets completely on their own so they’re unique. You won’t find them anywhere else,” said Dlugos.

Gerbino said that more attention should be given to mental health issues.

“With mental health, you don’t really understand the seriousness of it until something happens to you or someone you love, so the guys and I came up with the idea of having this fundraiser because we should create more awareness for it,” said Gerbino.

The bracelets were designed with a purple and green background to represent the colors of mental health awareness with the phrase, “Remember, you never alone” in bold and white font. 

Gerbino said that the fundraiser will continue Apr. 5 until the end of the week on center campus.

Photo by Rebecca Braukman