On Saturday, February 9, the ICSS hosted a Benefit Concert in Innis Town Hall in support of mental health. Organized by Innis student Lauren Cao, the event brought students from the college and across the university together to fight stigma and raise money for the cause. She told the Herald that “[many] people very close to me have experienced mental health challenges. People often have a hard time getting the help they need or are not fully aware of how they can gain access to the resources available to them. I’ve always wanted to contribute to changing this. I wasn’t sure how to go about it but I figured the concert is a start!”

All of the funds raised for this event went towards helping improve care for people who call in to Kids Help Phone. Kids Help Phone is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free mental health assistance to Canadian youths. They offer call, text and live chat contact with trained mental health counselors 24/7 across the nation. The organization is dedicated to privacy and quality to ensure that all of the children and youth that they help feel safe and welcome.

The event began at 8 pm with a performance by the band Wooly, who formed in 2017. They performed three original songs, “Mother,” “Stone,” and “Giant Steps.” They were followed by the Hart House Small Jazz Ensemble, a group of U of T students who rehearse at Hart House and perform throughout the year. For the concert, the ensemble played “I’ll be Around,” “Nardis,” and “East of the Sun.” Next up was another U of T band, First Pressing, who performed covers of “Summer of ’69” by Bryan Adams, “I Saw Her Standing There” by the Beatles, and an original song entitled “Rebuttal.”

After the first few performances, a brief intermission allowed guests to enjoy some refreshments and purchase tickets for the raffle that was held by the organizers. Once intermission ended, everyone was brought back to Town Hall and the raffle winners were picked. Prizes included donations from Metro, Cineplex, and Innis College’s very own Principal Kiel.

The event continued with a dance performance by Innis alum and former ICSS president Brianne Katz-Griffin. She was followed by the current IRC president, Daniel Li, who gave a very exclusive performance of his original song, “Rice Milk.” Singer/songwriter Lyly Kyd from Kitchener, Ontario, performed two originals next, “Orange and Ice” and “Babypants.”

Calder Morton-Ferguson followed, shaking things up with a dramatic reading — while accompanying himself on the piano — of his text messages with another Innis student regarding the mystery of who damaged the TV in the residence common room. This improvised performance was the result of Morton-Ferguson giving the audience three options for his performance; the piano song he was intended to play, the reading he ended up giving, or to simply end his performance after the vote, without actually performing anything.

Tony Niu, current ICSS International rep, and Victoria Hue, former ICSS vice-president and current Innis Choir director, closed off the night with a performance of Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect.”

According to Niu, “Victoria and I really appreciated the opportunity to perform at the Benefit Concert as it was a great event which addressed mental health issues. I think that although more people are aware of mental health issues now, we still need to tell people the resources that are available on campus.”

Throughout the night, hosts Andrew Zhao and Daria Mancino brought attention to both Kids Help Phone and the broader topic of mental health. They also gave information on the Health and Wellness services offered at the university, such as group and individual counselling.

With a great turn out and lots of funds raised, the event was a major success. It would be great to see this event continue running in future years, as it sheds light on an important issue and gives students a chance to give back.

Michelle Zhang, one of the ICSS Equity and Outreach directors who helped run the concert about event, thanked her co-organizers at a recent ICSS meeting,“Thanks to everyone who came out to the ICSS Benefit Concert on February 9th in support of Kids Help Phone! The money we raised will go to support free online and telephone counselling for children and youth all over Canada. We hope you enjoyed the night and keep the discussion about mental health going!”