3rd Annual Jacob Ranton Memorial Basketball Tournament

It is time to start planning for our 3rd Annual Jacob Ranton Memorial Basketball Tournament in support of the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council (WRSPC). Last year’s event was a tremendous success. The addition of a silent auction allowed us to mingle and engage in conversations about mental health.  It enabled us to promote the message that it is imperative to take care of yourself and each other, as well as to communicate that it is "Ok to not be OK". In addition, with the support of our family, friends, the basketball community and the citizens of Waterloo Region, we were able to raise almost $45,000 in support of the WRSPC.

These funds assist the WRSPC in nurturing the infrastructure around suicide prevention in the Waterloo Region. The money raised helps in their commitment to their four pillars:  Community Awareness, Partnership and Capacity Building, Training and Education, and Reseach and Evaluation.  We have learned over the 3 years that Jacob has been gone, that he died of a “life threatening” illness. In fact, suicide is the 2^nd leading cause of death among our youth. Mental illness, like cancer and heart disease, is an illness that needs financial support so that we can continue to provide treatment and education in addition to funding research to reduce the impact of suicide on our community. Please check the following link to see some of the wonderful resources and action items that WRSPC is providing: Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council 

This year’s tournament is to be held on December 15^th and 16^th, co-hosted by Waterloo Collegiate and Bluevale. We will continue the silent auction this year and hope that we can make it even bigger and better than last year! If you have items, services, tickets, experiences, etc. you would like to donate, please contact Doug at dsranton@rogers.com or 519-404-5181.