Active Minds hosts card writing for kindness event

By Julia Train

IN preparation for a hectic semester, Rider’s Active Minds club held their first event of the semester–Create a Card for a Friend–on Sept. 27. 

The organization is dedicated to promoting conversation around mental health and decreasing the stigma, per its Instagram.

“We just have a really good message and mission to help anybody here at Rider feel more comfortable and at home, especially during stressful classes,“ said sophomore journalism major Grace Bertrand.

Bertrand, who is the club’s public relations officer this year, started attending the club’s meetings last year to de-stress. She noted that the paint by numbers night was her favorite.

A week before the card-making event, the club posted on their account about the occasion, inviting their followers to bring a friend too. 

The thought behind it was to make motivational cards for friends or themselves ahead of the semester’s chaos. It was an intimate gathering, with four of the club’s members and six attendees.

The organization’s vice president, sophomore biology major Chloe Bacsik, joined the e-board after coming to the events last year, like Bertrand. In addition to Active Minds, she’s involved with the Student Government Association, Alpha Xi Delta and other clubs and organizations. 

“For me, this club was always one hour every two weeks that I could just breathe,” said Bacsik.

Usually, the events contain powerpoints dedicated to certain mental health topics. However, since this was the first of the semester, the members opted to introduce themselves, the club and resources for mental health assistance instead. 

Last year, the club’s president led the powerpoints. However, the new one who was appointed has been hard to reach, according to Bacsik, so they’re in the process of reassigning roles.

A table at the front of room 205 in Lynch Adler Hall held supplies for the cards. There was a variety of stickers–even ones that could be colored in– different colors and patterns of cardstock paper and coloring implements. 

Attendees went up to the table to grab their supplies and spent the rest of the hour crafting and chatting while listening to calming music. 

More information on the club can be found on its Instagram: @rider.active.minds.