Last Friday night was Green Level’s varsity football game against their rival school Panther Creek, but this game was more than just a normal rivalry. Green Level Football player Austin Conway and Panther Creek Football player Michael Molina teamed up together to spread awareness of the NAMI movement.
What exactly is Nami? NAMI “National Alliance on Mental Illness” is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1979. The goal of this organization is to educate, support, and advocate for people who are suffering from mental illness and hope to improve their lives. NAMI has hundreds of affiliates who work in communities all over the country to raise awareness and provide support for those in need.
Conway and Molina believed that this past football game was a great opportunity to raise awareness for this movement. Conway says, “I had the platform and had the opportunity because people were going to show up to the game no matter what, so why let it go to waste when I could do something good for my community that does good for me.” The support wasn’t only shown at the football game, throughout the whole school day, players and teachers from both schools wore NAMI shirts, and announcements of the movement were made to the whole school.
NAMI organization started out as a small group of families and now it is the Nation’s leading voice on mental health. Donations are humbly accepted, and those donations will help improve the lives of people who may be suffering from mental health problems.