BOARD MEMBERS

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I started this foundation with my family as a way to remember Ben. It quickly changed and became a way to not only remember Ben but to also talk about mental health.
The members of this board are my friends. They each bring something different to the foundation and I could not do it without them.
Our lives were devastated when we lost Ben. I don’t want any other family to suffer if I can help it. We have come a long way but we still have a long way to go!

My why started easy…when a friend loses their son and asks for your help…you just don’t say no!
But it has become so much more complicated than that.
It is hard to put into words.
Ben’s death shook Loveland, his family, his friends, his teammates, coaches, teachers, it shook people that didn’t even know him.
It shook me!
It was an overwhelming helpless feeling, that I didn’t want to feel.
I sat on the board because Tori asked me to,
I decided to participate on the board because it was my way of not feeling that helpless feeling anymore.
Anything I could do to raise awareness, create some positivity, and teach some self-worth.
Changing the world just one smile at a time has become my why

I have known The Morrison family for over 7 years. Ben and Ethan played Football and Lacrosse together since Ethan was in 6th grade.  When Tori said she was starting a non-profit to stop the Stigma around mental health I knew I wanted to help. 

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t replay March 2nd in my mind. Since then, my sister has made it her mission so that no family will have to go through what we did. To turn a terrible memory into something positive. It began as a way to honor Ben and to heal but has morphed into so much more. When I think about why I want to be involved, there are so many reasons – Tori, the rest of our family, my friends. But I think even more important are the people out there that we don’t even know. People we will never meet. Ben’s memory will live on through them.

On the day of Ben Morrison’s memorial, a day filled with grief and mourning I experienced the power of hope that comes from brotherhood; the strength of coming together to face life’s hardest moments and defy any more like them.  

When I walked into the chapel, I witnessed walls lined with standing young men wearing Ben’s number on their chests, like a human wall of support; strength in solidarity.  Did they feel it?  Do they still? This is what I like to think of as the the power of Ben, of coming together for Ben.   The power of rising together to show that you are there.  Of rising together against any more loss and in support of acknowledging all that was lost.

I arrived alone that afternoon in that chapel, and realized I never felt less alone. The moving grace of this human support became a metaphor for the shroud of mental illness and what it takes to disarm it.  What it takes to remove that shroud of darkness, isolation, and sadness, is others.  It is light, hope, the grace and kindness of those who look, who acknowledge, who stand beside and behind the lost and safeguard them until they recover their strength, find their way.  This has to be intentional.  It takes proactivity.  It takes honesty and difficult conversations and facing human darkness to find the way through it and fight its stronghold.  We all know those who struggle with mental illness, it can happen to anyone and is a terrifying foe.  The enlightened embrace of community can be a lifeline.  Standing up together is a superpower.  Count me in.

I wanted to be involved with the Ben Morrison Foundation in honor of my children. As I have watched them struggle and work through their own issues with insecurity, anxiety, depression, and OCD I have learned firsthand how important it is to keep the conversation going.  What the world sees is only a small part of who we are.

I’m truly honored to be part of the Ben Morrison Memorial Fund. Like the founding board members, my connection to this cause is also personal — my son was a teammate of Ben’s, and our families have shared many great memories together over the years. Losing Ben was heartbreaking, especially for a group of boys who had already lost so much of their senior year of high school to COVID.  My wife and I began volunteering with the Fund and we’ve been inspired by the positive impact it’s already made in promoting mental health awareness and supporting young people in our community. I’m proud to be a part of the Board and continue helping to carry forward Ben’s legacy of kindness, compassion, and connection.