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Ohio State schedules in-state exhibition as part of mental health awareness event
By Keith Farner
Published:
Ohio State on Thursday announced an exhibition men’s basketball game at Dayton that will cap off a multi-day community engagement event to promote adolescent and young adult mental health and suicide prevention.
The charity game was allowed through a waiver from the NCAA and will be Sunday, Oct.22 at UD Arena. All proceeds from the game and surrounding events will benefit the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation and the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio.
The public is invited to a town hall on Thursday, Oct. 19 and Friday, Oct. 20 with a specific focus on helping individuals and families navigate finding the right mental health care for themselves and their loved ones. The event will include discussions and presentations attended by Dayton coach Anthony Grant and his wife Chris.
The Grants strive to “bring purpose to the pain” from their family’s tragedy by helping mothers, fathers, teens, and young adults find the resources to help. Their daughter Jay died last year at the age of 20 as a result of mental illness.
“First, I want to express my deepest thanks and appreciation to Coach (Chris) Holtmann, Athletic Director Gene Smith and the Ohio State community for participating in this special event,” Grant said in a release. “They have been incredibly gracious partners and we’re thankful for their participation. More importantly, the game is a collaborative effort to help raise awareness, generate conversation, and increase access to mental health services in Ohio and throughout the country.”
Keith Farner has written about college football for newspapers and web sites since 2005.