Island charity dinner to feature Margaret Trudeau as speaker

The annual charity dinner held each year at Island business owner Danny Murphy's Gingerwood home in Stanhope is changing its focus this year.

For 11 of the past 13 dinners held at Gingerwood, the money raised has gone to Alzheimers charities.

This time, Murphy is putting the spotlight on mental health, specifically to help with the wellness of students at his old high school, Colonel Gray in Charlottetown.

"This was something that came up we felt that was important," Murphy told Angela Walker on CBC Mainstreet.

"Mental health in schools, and the challenges students have in schools and trying to figure out what they want to do in life. So we put together this fundraiser, and are helping Colonel Gray build a wellness centre."

The centre is a new room being built onto the school, next to the gym. It's nearing completion, but still has some work to go.

It will feature a quiet room, some exercise equipment, space for yoga and meditation, and a different atmosphere for students who might feel uncomfortable going to the gym for wellness.

"Physical activity, exercise, taking a break," are the aims, said Murphy. "Not everybody makes the team, team sports, stuff like that. Not everybody feels comfortable in a gym, or on a bicycle. Hopefully we can interest people that haven't looked at that before."

Murphy, through his connections, was able to persuade a major speaker to come for the event: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's mother, Margaret Trudeau.

"Margaret is a big mental health speaker now," said Murphy. "I heard her here five years ago, she was at the Delta, and I've never heard a better speaker. Her life has been exciting and interesting for sure, and she's hadsome mental illness, gotten it figured out, and now she's a great speaker for the cause."

The event is going to be held on Thursday, Dec. 1 at Gingerwood.

It features a dinner and reception, as well as the speech. Tickets are $500, with a charitable tax receipt from the Colonel Gray Foundation.

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