Spotlights

How did you get involved with Meg’s Legacy of Hope?

I worked with Larry at a non-profit for at-risk youth. His passion and Meg’s story touched me deeply and resonated with my lived experiences and the experiences of the youth who I worked with. I knew immediately that there was work to do and that we could make an impact while honoring Meg and those like her who inspired us through their own passion for helping others.

What about your background/skills make this a good volunteer commitment in your life?

As an engineer, I bring a systems level, problem-based approach to strategy. I have a passionate belief in the importance of community service and a personal attachment to mental health and supporting at-risk youth.

What role do you serve on the team?

I serve on the Board of Directors where I help shape vision, strategy and execution of the organization’s mission. I also serve as the head of the Grant Committee, where I direct policy regarding how grants are awarded.

What is your personal goal that you hope we can achieve in the next two years? Longer term/vision?

In the next two years, I hope we can grant $500,000 to organizations dedicated to helping at-risk youth with their mental health. Long-term, I hope to raise awareness of mental health struggles and solutions, plus foster a communal sense of responsibility for looking out for and caring for each other. I hope to de-stigmatize mental health issues by promoting the message that this is something that can impact anyone, at any time and in any walk of life.

Do you have ideas for how someone can volunteer or help make a difference?

Start small, start local. Treat every interaction with love and compassion as you can never know what someone may be going through. Promote healthy conversation about mental health. No individual person can fix or solve such a complex problem as mental health. But as a community, it’s our responsibility to lift each other up, let each other know that we are safe harbors, and let each other know that help can be found.

How did you get involved with Meg’s Legacy of Hope?

I was looking for a meaningful volunteer opportunity where I could spend my time and help others in some important way. I was an educator for over 30 years, and I am a retired Middle School Principal. I know I have more to offer this world, even after retirement! While attending Meg’s Inaugural Legacy Golf Outing,  I asked how I could get involved. I feel so rewarded to use my skills and time in a most needed area in all communities.

What about your background/skills make this a good volunteer commitment in your life?

I have a Masters degree in Educational Leadership and was a Special Education teacher before I went into Administration. I loved my career as an educator and felt a big need to continue to use my skills in life. As a Principal, I worked with many students and families that needed support in the area of mental health. I still have relationships with many of those families. I have children and grandchildren who I want to make sure they know how important it is to get help when needed.

What role do you serve on the team?

I am a member of the Grant Committee. I collect and organize the proposals and requests that are sent to us. I communicate with our team to make sure everyone is looking at the same information when we are making decisions and serve as a liaison with the organizations that reach out to us for grants. Working with such committed people on the Grant Committee and Board of Directors has been so rewarding. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this team to help better someone else’s journey.

What is your personal goal that you hope we can achieve in the next two years?

I would like our team to visit facilities so we are more familiar with the opportunities we might be able to support. I would also like to reach out to more facilities and organizations to let them know about Meg’s Legacy of Hope. I think finding ways to have more financial support is always needed. I want there to be more funding so that more youth and young adults get the support they need.

Do you have ideas for how someone can volunteer or help make a difference?

There is always room for more volunteers to teach us new ways to raise money or market our vision to receive more proposals. I wanted my volunteer efforts to be in something that I have a passion for, and I found it with Meg’s Legacy of Hope. Maybe you will too!

Why/how did you get involved with Meg’s Legacy of Hope?

As a Clinical Psychologist, I have dedicated over 30 years to helping people on a micro scale and this is a way to reach people on a more macro scale, which is really exciting. It’s a whole different way to have a positive impact – I can help more people in a shorter amount of time.

What about your background/skills make this a good volunteer commitment in your life?

Since I entered the mental health field, I have seen the steady rise of suicide rates for all ages, but to see it increasing for children and teens is especially heartbreaking. We need to work together to turn this around, and it needs to be more than just mental health professionals paying attention to this problem. We can all make a difference in someone’s life, just by seeing them, acknowledging their pain without feeling like we must fix it or solve it.

Do you have ideas for how someone can help make a difference?

Don’t be afraid to ask the awkward questions – you can’t give someone the idea of death by suicide by asking them if they are thinking of self-harming. Educate yourself on signs that someone is struggling. Keep open lines of communication with people. If someone tells you they are hurting, don’t give them platitudes like “you’ll be ok” or “you are strong” because while they may be strong, they may not feel it in that moment and then they feel like they are letting you down if they don’t live up to how/who they are supposed to be. Get curious about their pain. Volunteer for a hotline, donate to Meg’s Legacy, encourage people to seek help if you believe they are at risk, attend a NAMI meeting….

What is your personal goal that you hope we can achieve in the next two years? Longer term/vision?

Early intervention is critical, or any intervention, for that matter.  Getting therapy to those in need is imperative, and Meg’s Legacy of Hope is making that possible. Not only can lives be saved, but lives can also be improved through timely and quality care.

I would love to see Meg’s Legacy of Hope become a household name – each year for us to help fund more organizations that work with those at risk.

What role do you serve at Meg’s Legacy of Hope

I serve as an Ambassador and work on the Grant Committee.

How did you get involved with Meg’s Legacy of Hope?

We have a personal connection to the Butz family, as well as our own tragic experience with my brother-in-law’s death by suicide in 2017. The overwhelming pain, confusion and sadness that becomes forefront in your life inspires me to take specific action to help other individuals and their families have a different outcome than the experiences of our family and the Butz family. The tragedy of suicide is becoming all too common in our world.

Why this a good volunteer commitment in your life?

Being touched personally by suicide, I know the deep pain, loss and the journey of healing that occurs when this unfortunate, and many times unexplainable tragedy comes into your life. Helping Meg’s legacy live on in our community and impacting as many lives as possible made this an easy decision for me to get involved. My career is focused on leading others to grow and make a difference with their unique strengths and willingness to take chances.

What role do you serve on the team?

I am on the Board of Directors, Grant Committee, and Volunteers. I feel privileged to help build the broad team strategy at Meg’s Legacy, directly affecting how we select the organizations and programs we choose to grant.

What personal goal do you hope to achieve in the next two years?

I am very passionate about hearing directly from the youth and young adults we serve. Today’s world expects a lot of our children, and we want to support them to grow into independent and mentally healthy adults.  There are few places to find solace and an escape from the unrelenting lens and competitive landscape they are faced with. I would love to find and support youth programs that help establish healthy behaviors and boundaries around interpersonal relationships, social media, plus school and extracurricular expectations.

How can someone make a difference?

Everyone has unique strengths and gifts that could help increase mental health awareness and our ability to help teens and young adults. I love to meet with individuals and help find the area that will be most fulfilling for someone to help the youth we want to serve. We will find a spot for you if you are willing to get involved!

How did you get involved with Meg’s Legacy of Hope?

I became involved with Meg’s Legacy because how could I not? The Butz family was courageous in telling their story – Meg’s story – so that they could help young people. As someone who battled depression as a college student, I know firsthand how receiving treatment can change your life.

Having worked with Larry on another volunteer project, I knew the importance of creating a strong team with diverse skills to launch an organization successfully, so I decided to jump on board. What’s most important is that everyone in the organization believes deeply in the mission, and we all do!

What about your background/skills make this a good volunteer commitment in your life?

I’ve volunteered in the child welfare sector for more than 20 years and have seen the impact of trauma and mental illness on young adults. Unfortunately, there are too few opportunities for our young adults to receive ongoing mental health services – not just a couple sessions but continuingly.

Maybe even more significantly, I’m the parent of young adults. I’ve continually discussed the need to seek treatment with our kids and their friends. We need to dispel the myth that seeking treatment is for the “weak” and that “strong” people don’t need help because they can tough it out. Many of the “strongest” people I know are those who realize they need treatment, whether counseling or medication, or both, and they stick with it. Treatment works!

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in its 2023 reports, states that of the 58.7 million adults who perceived they ever had a mental health problem, 66.5% (or 38.8 million) considered themselves to be in recovery or to have recovered from their mental health problem.

What role do you serve on the team?

I am a founding member on the Board of Directors and serve on the Grant Committee and Communications. In a small, volunteer-only, not-for-profit, we all jump in as needed, but my main focus is working with the grants team. My professional life includes 30+ years in communications and public relations, so I have the honor of representing Meg’s Legacy to media and influencers in the Chicagoland area.

What’s your personal goal that you hope we can achieve?

Our goal is to fund a significant number of initiatives and raise awareness for other funding organizations to realize the importance of supporting this age group.

I’m also hopeful that by talking about Meg’s Legacy and discussing our grants and grantees, we open a larger discussion about suicide, prevention and how to access help. Above all, we must continue to remind people that illness and situations which impact mental health are just that – illness and situations that impact health – they aren’t character flaws.

Do you have ideas for how someone can help make a difference?

Educate yourself and talk about us. Spread the word with friends and family and post online. Beyond that, we are always in need of people who can organize events so that we can provide more grants to worthwhile organizations.

Why is this a good volunteer commitment in your life?

I have always had a passion for volunteering and did so for many years in various capacities while our kids were growing up.  I was a founding board member and the treasurer for 10 years at a local non-profit which focused on foster care and adoption.

How did you get involved with Meg’s Legacy of Hope?

I knew Megan’s story and wanted to support the vital issue of mental health. In choosing my volunteer commitment, it was the perfect time to make this new organization my priority for giving back to the community and supporting an important mission. Joining the Butz family to keep Meg’s legacy alive was a natural next step for me.  I enjoy combining my love of philanthropy and finance skills for this good cause.

What role do you serve on the team?

I am on the Board of Directors as a founding member. I serve as the Treasurer of Meg’s Legacy of Hope and am Co-Chair of the annual golf outing, which is our largest fundraiser.

What personal goal do you hope to achieve in the next two years?

I am excited that we have already been able to grant significant funds in one short year of operations. My hope is that we can build on this outreach and continue to fund many more programs to make a difference with struggling individuals.  I follow lots of mental health websites and would like us to share similar helpful tips and advice to our community via our newsletters and social media.

How can Meg’s Legacy grow?

Our team is so fortunate to have relevant mental health professionals amplify our efforts by advising, educating, and evaluating the organizations we consider for our funding. I hope that all our work continues to bring awareness of program availability in our community to help those struggling with mental health issues.

I am confident that together as a team and with our grant recipients, Meg’s Legacy will make a difference in the world of our younger generation!