Around 300 first responders and community members took on the grueling endurance test of rowing for seven hours straight, all to raise funds to support first responders’ mental health. The third annual “Pulling Together for Mental Health” event has teams of rowers take five minute turns indoor rowing, and this non-stop effort is all to raise funds for Wounded Warriors Canada (WWC). WWC is a national mental health service provider dedicated to serving trauma exposed organizations, such as first responders. “First responders, we refer to them as trauma exposed professionals, and they’re going to be impacted by the important work that they do,” said WWC Director of Warrior Kids Program Helena Hawryluk “Wounded Warriors Canada is really providing that community of support for people who are putting their lives forward and really needing to know that as a community, they have the support when they need it,” Hawryluk added This event was co-founded in 2024 by Rory Thompson and Jade Wong, who work for the Government of Alberta and City of Calgary respectively. They said their work experience played a big role in instilling the value of serving the community. “We were sitting on a bench in Rotary Park overlooking the city, and we really wanted to give back. And we thought: ‘what would be a great way to give back and something that really takes care of our city?’ And that is giving back to the people that take care of us, which is first responders and veterans,” Wong said. “The reality is that they are just exposed to so much more trauma. Your worst day is their every day,” Thompson said. Since this event started it has raised more than $300,000, and Hawryluk says that money has been used for several programs and awareness campaigns. It also brought an Operational Stress Intervention (OSI) dog to the Calgary Police. “They support members and community members with the court process, which is very stressful. They support members after traumatic incidents, which can happen 24/7. For example, when we’ve had events in the middle of the night, we have a program where members will bring the trauma dogs out in the middle of the night to provide assistance to members who have gone through a difficult time,” said Staff Sgt. Graeme Smiley, explaining the value of the OSI dogs. “There’s also important educational programs that are being offered through Wounded Warriors Canada that is looking at normalizing the discussion around that trauma exposure and knowing that there’s more than just a clinical treatment to what people can use when they’re trauma exposed professionals,” Hawryluk said, on other ways the money has helped. The event has grown each year, and Thompson and Wong say it means the world to them to see the community respond so strongly to supporting these mental health efforts. “Every year we add new communities, because our purpose is actually to unite all communities to support veteran and first responder mental health. So this year, I think we have six new communities joining us: the hospitality and entertainment industry, we have the wellness industry joining us, so it’s amazing,” Thompson said. It’s an important cause with serious consequences, but Smiley adds the day itself is quite fun, so he and everyone else involved enjoy the opportunity to support mental wellbeing in a lighthearted way with the community. “They’re getting physically fit and spending time together across the first responder community. It’s a lovely experience,” Smiley said. Mayor Farkas joins in Also joining the event was Mayor Jeromy Farkas, who took the stage as a VIP rower and tested his cardio alongside other rowers. “The fact that we’re all able to come together to be able to tackle the stigma around that (mental health), to be able to have each other’s backs … what we’ve been able to do in this room, what you have all been able to do in this room, is incredible,” Farkas said.
