Despite an unpleasant falling out with the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Foundation, the organizer of a popular grassroots fundraiser says nothing can deter her passion for giving back to the local community.
Elisha Banks has announced that she has relaunched Music for the Mind, a multi-month fundraiser that will benefit child and adult mental health initiatives in the municipality.
“I am so excited to be able to do it again and start fundraising… I cannot wait. I am hoping the community will be equally as excited about it as I am,” she said. “All the proceeds from every fundraising event, everything that we do, we will accumulate the total and at the end, [and] we will be dividing it in half and donating it to two different organizations within the community.”
Banks said she is in the process of finalizing the two organizations that will be the recipients of the donations, which she expects to announce in the coming weeks.
In 2019 and 2021, a total of $92,000 was raised through Music of the Mind, which was donated to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Foundation to be used towards purchasing much-needed supplies for patients at the hospital’s Inpatient Mental Health Unit.
However, the donations became the subject of a dispute between Banks and the foundation after she learned the money had been sitting unused in a bank account for more than a year.
In February, Banks accused the foundation of misleading her and those who donated to the fundraiser. However, shortly after, Banks was slapped with a cease-and-desist letter from the foundation’s lawyers demanding that she refrain from communicating with foundation and hospital staff, along with the news media.
After several more months of sitting in limbo, the Health Alliance announced in April that the donations would finally be utilized in the Inpatient Mental Health Unit.
While Banks is unable to speak directly about the incident with the hospital foundation for fear of possible litigation, she said the circumstances have only deepened her resolve to step up for her community.
“Despite everything that happened, all that I lost from what I initially set out to do, there’s one thing that never can be taken from me, and that is my passion for mental health and for giving back to my community,” said Banks. “It is a no-brainer for me to dust myself off, pick myself up again and use this amazing cause and make a difference.”
Banks said she has already started an empty bottle and can drive to kick off fundraising efforts for Music of the Mind. She is currently accepting empty alcohol bottles and aluminum cans among other items. Some monetary donations have already started rolling in as well, Banks added.
She said the majority of fundraising events will begin in October before culminating with an indoor concert sometime in February.
“There’s definitely a lot of opportunity for people to see the wonderful things we’re doing and be able to participate in them and to donate if they are interested,” said Banks.
For more information on Music for the Mind including how to donate, click here.