Projet Michel McSween

English version below
Mon nom est Simon St-Onge et je suis finissant d’un baccalauréat en Éducation à l’Université de Moncton. En février 2014, ma famille et moi furent victime d’une tragédie qui frappe beaucoup trop souvent; le su***de d’un être cher. En effet, le 3 février 2014, mon beau-père, Michel McSween, personnalité bien connu pour sa grande implication au sein de sa communauté, perd la vi

e aux mains du su***de. Après une année remplie d’émotions, je réalise aujourd’hui que face à la dépression deux options s’offrent à nous. Alors que, Michel McSween, comme bien d’autres le font, décide de mettre fin à sa vie, je crois qu’il est maintenant temps pour moi de commencer à la vivre. Il me fait donc plaisir de solliciter votre contribution à un projet auquel j’accorde une très grande importance, soit mon Projet Michel McSween. Le 27 mai 2015, suite à une conférence de presse où mon projet sera lancé, j’entamerai la traversée des maritimes à vélo. Ainsi, je partirais d’Edmundston, Nouveau-Brunswick pour me rendre à Sydney, Nouvelle-Écosse. Ce trajet représentera la première partie de mon périple au sein duquel je vise la traversée complète du Canada. Ainsi, le 18 mai 2015, je me rendrais à Victoria par voie aérienne dans le but de revenir à Edmundston à vélo.

À prime à bord, tout au long de mon périple, mon objectif est de monter et de médiatiser une campagne de prévention du su***de afin de sensibiliser les gens à la cause tout en assurant aux familles victimes le support nécessaire. Ensuite, afin d’honorer les valeurs qui me furent transmises par ma famille, soit l’importance de l’implication communautaire, avec la contribution de la Fondation Saint Louis Maillet, j’ai décidé de créer un fonds de bourse qui portera le nom de Bourse FSLM-MICHEL-McSWEEN. À partir de septembre 2015, FSLM-MICHEL-McSWEEN produira une bourse annuelle qui sera remise à un étudiant ou étudiante de l’Université de Moncton, Campus d’Edmundston. Bien entendu, la traversée du Canada à vélo exige de ma part un investissement de grande envergure. Je serais à vélo pour une durée approximative de deux mois et demi, ce qui implique une importante contribution monétaire, sans compter les ressources nécessaires au succès de mon voyage. Un projet de cette envergure nécessite la participation de nombreux acteurs. Des dons peuvent être réalisés au https://www.paypal.com/ca/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=gZmKE93cXacSRqIGz82sJX6pBJCaqQ0f28DhmjR-s51khwrpcfk0w4XvOdC&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d96f000117187ac9edec8a65b311f447e

Restez à l'affut des évènements qui se dérouleront dans le cadre de mon voyage. De plus amples informations vous seront transmises au courant des prochaines semaines. English version

My name is Simon St-Onge, I am a 22 year old French-canadian from New-Brunswick and will be graduating from my bachelor's degree in Education in May 2015. The past 5 years have been very hard for my family and I. In February 2014, we suffered the lost of my mother's husband, the man who raised, me when he committed su***de. As you know, dealing with the loss of a family member is very hard. Since I was still at the university and studying away from home, my grades got lower and my mental state was barely hanging on. In my mind, I was the new man of the house, and I had to take care of my sister, my mother and all the people in our lives. In the same year, I also had a big car accident, and on top of that I broke up with my girlfriend. Needless to say, 2014 was a very bad year for me. From September to December 2014, I also had to go through an internship in my high school in order to be able to graduate from my bachelor’s degree. The thing is, in August, I got in hospital twice for a depression. In other words, I had to go through my whole internship while dealing with a depression. I had a very hard time getting back up and am still struggling, although I can positively say that my life is taking a very optimistic turn, as I'm now building my future around my biggest dreams and ambitions. I now realise that facing depression, you are faced with two choices; take the easy way out and put an end to my life, as too many people do, or start living it… which I did. Before all of these events happened, I had already bought a touring bike, bags, and most of the equipment necessary in order to cross Canada by bike. All of the events in the last years pushed back my plans. So here I stand, fit for the task, at the end of my bachelor’s degree, dreaming of making a difference, both in my student’s life, but also for my family and all of the people surrounding me. It occurs to me that people need to be inspired, to have a life purpose and to give back to the people in need. Since I suffered personally both of a loss at the hands of mental illness, which lead my father to su***de, and of a personal depression, I am eager to make sure that the people suffering the same king of pain have the support and help that they need to get through it. On may 27th, following a Press conference held at Univerity of Moncton, campus of Edmundston, I will be starting a bike trip which will take me all across the Maritimes, and then through the rest of our beautiful country. Through my trip, my ultimate goal is to raise money and awareness regarding su***de prevention. Also, in order to honour the values that where given to me by my family, in collaboration with the Fondation Saint Louis Maillet, I decided to start a fundraiser, in order to create a bursary in the name of my deceased father Michel McSween to provide financing to the students of the University of Moncton. As you may know, a trip of that importance necessitates a big investment from my part as I will be biking for approximately three months across the country. This is why I’m calling out to you. In order to contribute to my project, I invite you to act as a sponsor for my bike trip. Any personal donations, tips, advices, guidance or involvement in my project would be really appreciated. You can make personal donations at https://www.paypal.com/ca/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=gZmKE93cXacSRqIGz82sJX6pBJCaqQ0f28DhmjR-s51khwrpcfk0w4XvOdC&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d96f000117187ac9edec8a65b311f447e

If I may state a su***de prevention organism called Your Life Counts; "YOU need to know that being a responsible citizen enables YOU to make a positive contribution to society and to make a difference in the lives of others." - YLC's what we believe - I know that my responsibility as a citizen is to make a difference in my society and to make a difference in the lives of the people around me. Question is, are you willing to help me be a responsible citizen? For more informations about my trip or on how you can contribute, dont hesitate to contact me. You can also follow my trip on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat through my personnal account or through Projet Michel McSween. http://www.fondationslm.org/