A Marathon to Raise Mental Health Awareness

By Molly Burger, NAMI Dane County Intern

Farit will be running 27 miles to complete his "Marathon For Life" fundraiser for NAMI to raise mental health awareness.

Farit at the 2021 Virtual Gala

On Saturday May 29th, 2021, I interviewed Farit KA, who is a recent graduate from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater who was born in Loma Bonita Oaxaca Mexico and moved to Sauk City Wisconsin, in 2001. Currently, he is a teacher at Bridges Elementary in Prairie Du Sac Wisconsin, as well as a non-medical caregiver for Agrace Hospice. He has a love for sports, reading and learning about history. In January of 2020, he was in a very bad car accident. “Everything that I was working for blew up in my face, having thoughts of dropping out of school, worried constantly about my medical payments and not feeling I was the same person as before.” Farit says. Recently, he took a role as a leader by taking initiative in creating the "Marathon For Life" (MFL), by going to many different businesses asking for donations that will go to NAMI Dane County as well as NAMI Wisconsin. In August, he will be running 27 miles, to finish off this great fundraiser.

Throughout his life, Farit has been surrounded by incredible people who support him. His journey with going to therapy at such a young age helped tremendously. When he attended college, everything was extremely stressful since he had to work to support himself. After learning techniques to practice self-care and to show up for himself, he was then able to feel happy and healthy.

While participating in MFL he learned how truly important self-care is. He mentioned that prior to doing this, he was struggling to see himself in the positive way others see him. Now that he is fundraising for MFL, he can understand that taking care of oneself is extremely important.

A huge part of MFL is getting businesses to donate, which was not a struggle for Farit. Every business that he went to, was very eager to participate. The first step he took was creating buckets to bring to businesses throughout the Madison area, adding a picture of himself as well as his mission statement. Over 25 businesses have raised money, which Farit predicts will grow over the duration of MFL.

At the start, the overall goal that Farit envisioned was $5,000. Weeks later, it was $10,000, then $15,000 and currently he has a goal of $25,000. “It is incredible the amount of business and people that care so much about this good cause.” Farit says.

The reason behind Farit choosing NAMI was the passion-driven and clear force behind their mission. Farit explains that “in order for me to choose the right organization, I had to ultimately make sure that my hard work was going to be well received as well as appreciated.” The main focus of his vision is to provide funds to school aged children through young adults, which NAMI supports both.

“Ending the stigma that surrounds mental health and mental illness could be a lot easier than you think” says Farit. He explains that even something as simple as clicking on a website and donating to an organization can make an impact. Another step people can take is to simply take care of themselves.

He could not stress enough how important it is to practice self-care, and to make sure that in order to help others, you need to help yourself first. As Farit continues his journey through MFL, he would encourage those who are just as passionate as he is, to continue to work towards ending the stigma that surrounds mental illness. If you or someone you know is in the Madison area and wants to make a donation or would like a donation bucket, please contact Farit at 608-370-9457 or Farit4589@gmail.com or send a donation to his Venmo @FaritKA2.