PromoKichen, an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization in the promotional products industry, hosted a virtual speaker event on May 13 featuring professional speaker Dan Nevins, a United States Army Veteran who lost both of his legs fighting in the war after 9/11. While Nevins has previously shared his story at various promotional products industry events, the PromoKitchen event shed light specifically on mental health and suicide awareness, and the importance of normalizing these conversations within industry.

This was a free-to-attend event with an optional monetary donation upon registration, with 100 percent of all donations going to the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization Nevins actively advocates for and to which he credits much of his post-war survival. Thanks to the generous contributions from the promo community, PromoKitchen donated $650.29 on Nevins’ behalf to the organization to support its ongoing efforts to help wounded veterans and their families.

“Mental health is a very sensitive and difficult subject for a lot of us, which is exactly why it needs to be talked about, and now more than ever, these conversations desperately need to be normalized in our industry,” says PromoKitchen Sous-Chef and event moderator, Amanda Delaney. “Dan tells a powerful story of hope. He’s just as passionate about educating people on the subject as we all are at PK; he is a trusted, familiar face to many in our industry, and he truly believes in the power of promo. It made perfect sense to expand our reach by joining forces and having this critical conversation together.”

More than 120 people attended the event, all of whom will receive a video recording of the discussion along with a list of resources hand-picked and put together collectively by PromoKitchen and Nevins, and those resources will also be available to everyone on promokitchen.org.

“We want to create a safe space for everyone in our industry to feel comfortable having these difficult conversations when needed, and we want to be a trusted source for continued education on the importance of mental health and suicide awareness,” says PromoKitchen Chair Johanna Gottlieb of Axis Promotions. “If the overwhelming responses so far indicate anything, it’s that this was a huge step in the right direction.”

The event also provided a resource for those struggling with suicidal thoughts or ideations: the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) helpline at 800-950-NAMI or text “NAMI” to 741741.