The Mayville Chautauqua Lions Club held a Bills Watch Party fundraiser for the organization at the Mayville VFW, that besides watching the game also included tailgate food and a raffle, with all of the proceeds going towards Rural Minds. One of the big items for the raffle was a Buffalo Bills player Dawson Knox cleat, donated from the team.

There are four lions clubs in the county, and the Mayville Chautauqua Lions Club covers the area of Mayville, Westfield, Clymer, Chautauqua and Sherman.

Marie Duke from the Mayville Chautauqua Lions Club said that the club wanted to do this fundraiser for Rural Minds, because one of their focuses is mental health as well.

“One of our focuses is mental health and in Chautauqua County there are a lot of issues with mental health and drug use,” Duke said. “We focus on what we feel is most important in the county.”

ictured are Jeff Winton and some of the members of the Mayville Chautauqua Lions Club.

Duke added that they also work on mental health issues with veterans, and that this is the second time the club has done a watch party fundraiser for Rural Minds. Almost 100 people attended the event.

Jeff Winton, Founder and Chairman of Rural Minds, said that even while Rural Minds continues to grow and is beginning work even outside of the United States, continuing to have this kind of support from local, at home, organizations means a lot and allows them to do a number of things.

“Having local support means a great deal,” Winton said. “This is where we’re based, this is where we live, this is where my family’s story that started Rural Minds happened. Local advocacy means a lot, and it allows us to do things we wouldn’t be able to do without it.”

For example, Winton said soon after receiving the proceeds from the watch party Winton traveled to Montana to talk with farmers there about struggles they have been facing thanks to ongoing factors within the country. Last week he also spoke to a group of state representatives in New Orleans who asked him to come down and speak. On the Friday before speaking with the Post-Journal Winton was invited to go to Washington in February and speak with Congress on the ongoing mental health crisis in Rural America. The Jamestown Zonta Club has also asked him to speak.

“We’re able to do things like this because of the Lions Club and we rely on generous people to help fund our work,” Winton said. “We’re small but growing. Our work is getting noticed because of how much Rural America is hurting right now. People with farm backgrounds are realizing that if we don’t do something about it we will have to begin importing food from other countries and we will pay the price and risk the quality of our food.”

Statistically, Winton said people in rural America are three and a half times more likely to commit suicide than those in urban areas, with people in areas similar to Chautauqua County 50% more likely, and young people in these areas 75% more likely. Specifically because of the young people statistic, Winton said Rural Minds is working on a new peer-to-peer program to prepare young people in Rural America to be their eyes and ears. There is a shortage of mental health resources in rural areas, but Winton said young people are more likely to be willing to talk about these issues, including to each other, so the program would train them to watch and provide advocacy. Professional help is available, but one of the first steps to getting help is admitting there is an issue to someone, like another young person, something that Winton said shows why telling stories is so important.

For Duke, the Mayville Chautauqua Lions Club doing these types of fundraisers is important, with them being a small club with 20 members, including two also involved in the Zonta Club. She added that they did this specific fundraiser for Rural Minds because of the importance of football to those in the area.

“Football is important to small communities,” Duke said. “It brings people together, and that’s one of the reasons we picked doing this as a fundraiser. The NFL is also doing a big push for mental health awareness and support, and the Buffalo Bills are a very strong supporter of mental health issues.”

Both Duke and Winton said that someday they would like Rural Minds to get the support of a specific Bills player, and Winton said his hope would be for it to be Josh Allen, who he said has a farming background, having grown up on a farm in California.

Duke noted that the team does have other farming connections as well, with another player being from Iowa. She said the Mayville Chautauqua Lions Club embraces these watch parties, which help to support them, Rural Minds, and the Mayville VFW. Winton also noted that one of the things he found neat about the watch parties is that people who are not able to stay for the game or entire event still make an effort to stop by and contribute, citing one example of a hunter who did just that. He added that it also brings in more visibility to the Mayville VFW, because some people have never been there, and the VFW also provides meals and specials, so events like this bring them in good visibility as well.

“It really is community focused,” Duke said. “Everybody gets involved.”

More information on Rural Minds, including the 988 suicide support number, and a video recently filmed at Winton’s farm and Country Ayre farm in Chautauqua County, filmed and supported by Phizer, visit ruralminds.org.