By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
When the last day passed and the numbers were all in, Cobourg resident Chris Dingman placed number two nation-wide in the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Push-Up Challenge.
And in a bonus for local mental-health services, the $7,220 he raised will go to his local CMHA (the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge branch).
Taking place last month, this fundraiser is modelled after one that has been held in Australia for some years. This was the first year for the Push-Up Challenge in Canada.
Interviewed last month for Today’s Northumberland, Dingman termed taking up this challenge a deeply personal decision, inspired by seeing friends and colleagues fall through despair and experience depression or even suicidal thoughts.
He set a $500 goal initially, but achieved that in the first three days. He changed his goal to $1,000 – then reached that mark and reset it to $2,500.
He was notified, not long into the month, that he was number 15 on the list of top 20 Push-Up Challenge fundraisers in Canada. This weekend, when all numbers were in, he learned he was number two in the nation.
“I’ll be back next year looking to exceed this year’s goal and, hopefully, be part of a bigger community team,” Dingman said.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
