Castle Country Radio had the opportunity to bring in Pat Smuin and Zac Jones for a talk about the CJ Smuin Memorial Foundation, their annual hitting camp, the CJ Smuin Memorial Baseball Scholarship and the importance of mental health awareness.

Starting with the organization’s annual hitting camp, Smuin spoke on the community turnout and what the event entails,” We were pretty involved with youth baseball in Carbon County so we know a lot of the people … we brought in about 140 kids from the community and outside of the community. And the older kids who come get the opportunity to come to the banquet and talk about mental health and suicide awareness. We feel like as parents it’s the one time of year you get to have that quality conversation with your kids about suicide.” Jones added,” No one can come to that and not leave thinking this is a perfect opportunity for me to have that conversation.”

Moving on, Jones and Smuin talked about the organization’s scholarship and what they’re looking for in applicants.” One thing that stands out to us is it’s not necessarily about being the best athlete because you can be a fantastic athlete and a bad teammate. Whether it’s recommendations from their coaches or something they write in their essays, you can start to get a glimpse into what that person’s character is like. So what we’re looking for is someone ambitious, a good athlete and someone who is very high quality in character.” Jones said. Adding onto this, Smuin stated,” One of the things we look at also is the route we feel CJ was on, as far as an athlete and a student.”

The next thing we discussed was the importance of suicide and mental health awareness. “As a father, losing my son to suicide, I think it’s something that I don’t want anyone else to feel. Suicide is something that can be a controlled thing or something that can be prevented, it’s just a conversation we have to have.” Smuin stated. Jones built onto this sentiment saying,” I think suicide and mental health, they hide in the dark. I think having those conversations shows people that we all have stuff we’re dealing with … and the more we talk about it the more you realize everyone has struggles and we can all work through those together.”

To close, Smuin spoke on his appreciation for the support the community has given the foundation,” Thank you for all the support, like I said we had about 140 kids at the hitting camp, and about 400 people at the banquet. And that all builds funds for the scholarship and helps keep the foundation going, so we appreciate the support from all the people in Carbon and Emery County.”

For those looking to get involved with the foundation, more information, as well as a donation tab can be found on their website.

For those struggling with thoughts of suicide, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can be reached by dialing 988 any time for support.  Resources are also available at utahsuicideprevention.org.