Turnout for the well-advertised May 16 Mental Health Awareness Walk/Lunch exceeded expectations, with nearly 75 participants taking advantage of mild weather to walk through town and enjoy a catered meal at Fudge Street Cafe. There the walkers from AHCS, lngevity Women’s Network, both co-sponsors ofthe event, were joined by members of the public and representatives from local law enforcement, schools, and state agencies to hear presentations on the benefits of Crisis Intervention and Jail Diversion when dealing with mental illness crises. Featured speaker was New River Valley Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Coordinator Patrick Halpern. Alleghany Sheriff’s Corporal Ray Keen, a recent graduate of the 40-hour CIT CORE program, described the benefits he came away from the course with in his position as a corrections officer.