What started as a project in a high school entrepreneurship class has blossomed into an apparel company raising money and awareness for suicide prevention.
Turning Point is the brand and it was conceived by a group of Grade 12 students at Miller Comprehensive High School in Regina.
The students say mental health isn’t a 9-5 job. It needs attention 24-7, and they want to help in any way they can.
According to Health Canada, around 10 people die every day by suicide in the country.
Tayson Smith is one of Turning Point’s co-presidents and he said they wanted their business to help the community and that suicide prevention is a cause that is close to them.
“Anyone and everyone can struggle with mental health it’s a big problem in our society today, especially since COVID,” Smith said.
As far as the name goes, co-president Logan Curle says that some suicide survivors describe the moment in their life as a turning point.
Smith added that the semicolon placed within the letter “i” in their logo has a special meaning.”When an author could have ended the sentence but chose to continue it, it’s kind of a metaphor for someone’s life,” Smith said.
Twenty per cent of all clothing sold by Turning Point goes towards the Johnny Z Healthy Minds Fund, a non-profit organization that works to bring awareness to mental health and suicide prevention. John Ziegler was a married father of three who died by suicide in 2020. Ziegler was also an alumnus of Miller Comprehensive High School.
Ziegler’s son, Levi, says it was an honour to be approached by the students when there are many excellent charities doing work in the suicide prevention field.
“To be chosen and to get 20 per cent of what they are raising, it was such a shock and it’s fantastic. We just love their whole vibe and where they are going with everything,” said Ziegler.
Turning Point has sold well over 200 hoodies to date and in January, along with Regina Paramedics With Heart, made a $2,000 donation to the Johnny Z Healthy Minds Fund.
At the outset Turning Point relied on hand-delivering their product to their customers. But now the company has its own website and with the help of Canada Post has been delivering sweatshirts across Canada.
The students say they are blown away by the response and love they’ve received from the community and their customers.
They hope customers can remain patient with the group while they iron out the kinks of a new business.
Rianne Renner is another member behind Turning Point she says the response from the community has been incredible.
“I’ve had people personally reach out to me and let me know that our message is helping them,” Renner said. “It warms our hearts to know we are making a difference in our community.”
Even though the school semester and project have wrapped up, the students behind Turning Point say this is only the beginning for their business.
They are looking at expanding into other items of clothing and are open to forging new relationships with new foundations.
They’ve also had some interest from a national retailer about carrying their brand.