Lake Oconee Amazing Minds earned more than double their financial goal for the 2013 walk.

The Lake Oconee Amazing Minds (LOAM) team of walkers raised more than double their financial goal in the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) walk at Piedmont Park on Oct. 5.

George and Julie Menke organized a first-time team from the Lake Oconee area to participate in the NAMI walk in Atlanta to help support education, research and advocacy for access to services, treatment and support for those suffering from a serious mental illness.

The Menke’s have been facilitating a NAMI Family-to-Family class which will conclude at the end of this month.

With the help of NAMI State Board member Faye Taylor, who now lives at Lake Oconee, they hope to be involved in starting additional NAMI programs at Lake Oconee including a NAMI Family Support Group, Connection Recovery Support Group, a Peer-to-Peer Class and NAMI Basics Class. NAMI’s approach is that, “No one is going to improve the world for those we care about unless we take action.” We can’t do it by simply complaining and expecting the system to respond. We can believe that we can ‘do the things we think we cannot do.’

In no other serious illness are family members expected to bear up with so little public sympathy, understanding or institutional support.

NAMIWalks is a nationwide fundraising and mental health awareness program is being held in 88 communities around the country in 2013. It is expected that these will raise approximately 10 million dollars in 2013 so that NAMI can offer more support and services to the hundreds of thousands of individuals and families across the country affected by serious mental illness. For more information about NAMI and NAMI programs visit www.NAMI.org or send a confidential e-mail to NAMI.LakeOconee@gmail.com.