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MAYVILLE — Local nonprofit Rural Minds, which focuses on mental health in rural and farming areas, is continuing its work advocating for people in these regions, including Chautauqua County.

Some of that work is happening through two events scheduled for the beginning of next week.

The first event is a Buffalo Bills watch party. Scheduled for noon on Sunday at the Mayville VFW, 10 Memorial Drive, the event is hosted by the Mayville Lions Club and will feature a watch party for this Sunday’s Buffalo Bills game against Tampa Bay. A $20 admission fee will allow for party goers to watch the game, beginning at 1 p.m. and enjoy chilli, wings and other tailgating foods along with a Bills raffle with donated Bills items, including a signed Dawson Knox cleat, Bills cashmere sweater, Bills Water Buffalo hat, “Cold Front” hat and more.

Submitted photo Two events will be taking place early next week to sponsor Rural Minds, with the first being a Bills Watch Party on Sunday, set to include a raffle for multiple different Buffalo Bills items.

The second event is the Chautauqua Community Dinner, set for Monday at Hurlbut Church in Truesdale Hall on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution. There is free parking and admission and the dinner begins at 5:30 p.m., with Rural Minds Founder and Chairman Jeff Winton set to begin speaking at 6:20 p.m. Winton will be discussing with attendees current ongoing issues in the agricultural community due to economic factors, including the ongoing trade war and deportations. He will also be talking about a new youth program that Rural Minds is launching because of the growing issue of the mental health crisis in youth in rural areas.

“A recent statistic shows that 75% of youth in rural areas are more likely to commit suicide than in urban areas,” Winton said. “We’re doing what we can to slow down that number. This is a pilot program that we will first begin in New York and Pennsylvania and then take it nationwide.”

Rural Minds is partnering with 4-H, FFA, and a number of other agricultural related partners for this program.

Those coming to the dinner are asked to bring a two dollar donation and a dish to pass along with their own place setting, but Winton said those struggling with SNAP benefits should not feel obligated to do either and are still welcome to come.

Winton noted that the agricultural community is already struggling, but those struggles have been exasperated due to ongoing issues. He said he has been constantly getting calls and texts about these struggles. One specific issue that he noted is hurting the agricultural community nationwide is deportations.

“We have already lost 155,000 workers across the country,” Winton said. “Farmers are already stretched to find workers and rely on foreign workers to help, and even those here legally are concerned about what could happen to them. It’s a crisis situation in agriculture.”

Both of next week’s events are important for Rural Minds as Winton said they allow them the potential to reach people not in the rural or agricultural communities that they might not reach otherwise, with both events being open to the public. Additionally, he said he spoke at a Chautauqua Community Dinner a few months ago and that he knew of people who came down from Cleveland for that, and that he knows of people from Buffalo and Rochester that are planning to come to the events this time.

“The watch party should be fun and give people the chance to watch the game in a lighthearted and enjoyable environment,” Winton said. “The details will come at the event the next night. People are hurting and these events are good opportunities for us to deliver our story. Many of these people are well connected in the government and farmers are usually too busy to do things like lobbying so we need partnerships with the non-farming community to make sure elected officials hear us and understand these problems.”

Winton said people should be interested in coming to both events to meet people they would not get to normally, including people outside of the area, and to help support Rural Minds. As a 501c3 nonprofit, Rural Minds is small and based out of Winton’s farm, Wall-Street Dairy, in Mayville, relying on volunteers and people from the community to be able to do what they do. He added he hopes people will come to Monday’s event to be educated and learn more about the agricultural community that was already struggling before the ongoing situations, and now is struggling more. He gave an example of the soybean situation, saying that because the export market is drying up soybean farmers now have no place to sell. This also has an impact on the price of food and groceries for everyone.

“Combined with the labor issue, this is a perfect storm,” Winton said. “Supposedly we were supposed to see grocery prices drop with this administration, but I fear we are going to see the exact opposite. There’s also the issues happening with SNAP and insurance coverage; there’s a lot of moving parts.”

Winton encouraged everyone to come out to these events to support Rural Minds, as it is a Chautauqua County based organization that works to advocate for rural areas like Chautauqua County and relies on the generosity of others to do that. They are also looking for ways to continue that advocacy and welcome any ideas. Winton spent the last two weeks in Washington to meet with people about what has been happening with the agricultural industry, and before that he did the same during a global conference in Germany. At this conference he spoke with others from other countries who may not always think about what economic issues may do to their farmers.

“I think we planted the seed for people to pay attention to those who grow their food and fiber,” Winton said. “We have both a national and international reach, and I’m proud of our efforts. It is our goal to make sure people know what they can do in these times, as people are frustrated and trying to find things they can do to help. Food banks have been seeing donations since SNAP benefits were cut; people want to be involved.”

For more information on either event contact Marie Duke at 252-503-5419 or visit ruralminds.org. Winton said the website now includes a new video that was sponsored by Pfizer with footage from both Wall-Street Dairy and Country Ayre Farms, along with a lot of information and contact information.

“We want people to know that there is hope and there is help,” Winton said. “There are people concerned about what is happening and are working to make sure people in rural areas have their voices heard.”