A free community event showing the Do It For Daniel Documentary is scheduled for Monday, March 13th at 6 p.m. at the Hurley High School Auditorium.
Do It For Daniel is a film that documents Daniel Olson’s story. Daniel was an all-state quarterback for the Ishpeming (Michigan) football team, had a great family and had great friends, and just one month shy of turning 20, he lost his life-long battle that he fought with depression and anxiety.
The Olson’s family mission is to tell their family story, hoping to get rid of the stigma of mental illness so it is common for people who struggle and/or suffer with such to come forward and seek help. The documentary was created to educate people about the impact depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses have on people and their families and to create a dialogue. “We believe that through education, we can help stop the stigma. People who suffer from these illnesses will feel less isolated and more willing to seek help.” said Jeff Olson, father of Daniel and the Head Coach of the Ishpeming Hematites football team. This documentary tells the incredible story of Daniel and his family and how the community of Ishpeming through the Hematite football team rallied to restore hope for all who suffer from this medical illness called depression.
Statistics show that one in four adults suffer from mental illness, one in four youth ages 13 to 18 experience mental disorders, and an estimated 13% of youth ages 8 to 15 are also affected by mental illness and most will not ask for help because of the stigma associated with it. Ninety percent of suicides are from people who suffer from mental illness. “To decrease suicide we need to treat the source. Anxiety and depression are the most common. We want to try to define it, help others understand what it feels like to suffer from it, and most importantly give people HOPE. It is a medical illness that can be treated.” said Olson.
The stigma of depression (or any type of mental illness) will only be broken down by education and getting people to talk openly about the fact that it is a medical disease. According to Olson, “The goal is to spread the word and hopefully this documentary will touch many lives. We want people to realize they are not alone. Our wish is that this movie will also show the power of love, strength, and determination. The Ishpeming community rallied behind a dark situation and banded together to overcome the odds and grew together off the field as much as they did on and if we all, as a team and greater community, believe and work hard enough, anything is possible! We want everyone to understand, THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE.”
The Documentary, 75 minutes long, is narrated by Daniel’s sister, Jaime Olson, and produced by Kammi Young-Berens and Michael Berens of Otisville, Michigan. There is no charge to attend this community event, however, donations would be greatly appreciated as thousands of dollars are still needed to go towards color and audio correction of the film, building the Do It For Daniel Foundation so the documentary can be presented to all schools, making copies of the DVD, and getting the film to film festivals to have it shown in large market areas.
The community event, facilitated by Jeff Olson, will also be shown to students in grades 9-12 from the Wakefield-Marenisco, Bessemer, Ironwood, and Hurley schools during the school day, prior to the community evening showing. Mr. Olson has previously shown the Documentary in Ishpeming, Gwinn, Ontonagon, Engadine, Newberry, Menominee, and Calumet, and is also scheduled to show the Documentary to six other schools on the eastern end of the UP, in addition to traveling to schools in Lower Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio.
For more information regarding the community event scheduled for Monday, March 13th at 6 p.m. at the Hurley High School Auditorium, please call Missy Lane at Community Mental Health at 906-229-6105. For more information regarding the documentary, please visit the Do It For Daniel web site at www.DoItForDaniel.com or the Face Book page at www.facebook.com/Do-It-For-Daniel. We believe this documentary will save lives. If you or someone you know is struggling with any sort of mental illness, please call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.Its a disease that the person suffering, often hides from everyone else. We want the world to be more aware of this disease and make it easier to talk about. couldn’t live with the pain any longer.
We are making this movie to educate people about depression. Its a disease that the person suffering, often hides from everyone else. We want the world to be more aware of this disease and make it easier to talk about.
The stigma of depression (or any type of mental illness) will only be broken down by educating and getting people to talk openly about the fact that it is a MEDICAL DISEASE. Our goal is to spread the word and hopefully this movie will touch many lives. We want people to realize they are not alone. 1 in 4 people will suffer with some form of mental illness in their life time. Our wish is that this movie will also show the power of love, strength and determination. A community that rallied behind a dark situation and banded together to over come the odds and grow together off the field as much as they did on. If we all as a team and community believe and work hard enough, anything is possible! We want everyone to understand, THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!