Minding Your Mind

Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Minding Your Mind, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.
More information about Minding Your Mind: Minding Your Mind's mission is to reduce stigma and destructive behaviors associated with mental health issues, while promoting help-seeking behavior in youth through education. Minding Your Mind offers mental health educational programs that move away from crisis-based response to prevention through education aimed at middle school, high school and college students. Students hear stories of hope and recovery from young adult speakers who successfully and productively cope with their mental health issues.

10 years ago, Marcus Kyle Craig, a student at Vanderbilt took his own life at the age of 21. He was a popular kid with a great heart who happened to be struggling internally. He had many close friends and a loving family, but they were unaware of issues plaguing him, partly caused by a miss usage of ADD medication. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to tell when somebody is struggling. A Celebration of Life will put on a spring time event every year to honor Kyle and all those battling mental health issues. Together, we will erase the stigma surrounding seeking help and come together in celebration.

All of the proceeds raised by donations, t-shirt sales, and silent auction sales goes directly to Minding Your Mind. More information about the organization: Minding Your Mind's mission is to reduce stigma and destructive behaviors associated with mental health issues, while promoting help-seeking behavior in youth through education. Minding Your Mind offers mental health educational programs that move away from crisis-based response to prevention through education aimed at middle school, high school and college students. Students hear stories of hope and recovery from young adult speakers who successfully and productively cope with their mental health issues.

In April 2019, Vanderbilt students will host the 9th Annual Celebration of Life: A Tribute to Kyle Craig, a benefit that honors the memory of our brother Marcus Kyle Craig who took his own life in May 2010. The event has raised more than $170,000 for mental health awareness in just eight years, with all proceeds going to The Minding Your Mind Foundation. The success of our event is both a testament to the number of lives Kyle was able to touch and a direct result of the tremendous generosity of donors like you. We are asking for your help again so that we can do what Kyle always did best: make the lives of those around him better. Your money will go towards programs and initiatives that educate communities of adolescents and young adults about mental health issues while helping young adults to accept that there is no embarrassment in seeking help and advice about improving one’s mental health. Please help us prevent the loss of another person as special as Kyle by donating now. Thank you, and please read more about Kyle and about our event below.


A Little About Kyle: In May 2010, Marcus Kyle Craig tragically took his own life in his hometown of Spring Lake, NJ. Kyle, as friends and family affectionately knew him, had just finished the spring semester of his junior year studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain. In addition to being a member of Beta Theta Pi, Kyle was a dedicated student, belonging to both the Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta academic honor societies. Kyle was an accomplished athlete, an avid surfer, a die-hard Cowboys fan, and a talented musician. More than all of these things, Kyle was a great person and a loyal friend, whose huge smile and even bigger personality lit up the world around him. His emphatic approach to life and zest for living was contagious, putting all of those around him instantly at ease. Everyone who Kyle touched has had his or her lives changed for the better. A Celebration of Life’s History: Because of Kyle’s passion for music, the brothers of Beta Theta Pi decided to honor Kyle by bringing State Radio, his favorite band, to play a concert on Vanderbilt’s Alumni Lawn in April 2011. With multiple local Nashville restaurants catering food and more than 1000 tickets sold, the event was a resounding success. Last year, we raised over $24,000 for our beneficiary, The Minding Your Mind Foundation, an organization committed to helping adolescents across the country cope with mental health issues like those that Kyle faced. In an effort to continue to keep Kyle’s benevolent spirit alive, we have made A Celebration of Life an annual spring philanthropy.


More information about Minding Your Mind: Minding Your Mind's mission is to reduce stigma and destructive behaviors associated with mental health issues, while promoting help-seeking behavior in youth through education. Minding Your Mind offers mental health educational programs that move away from crisis-based response to prevention through education aimed at middle school, high school and college students. Students hear stories of hope and recovery from young adult speakers who successfully and productively cope with their mental health issues.