BATON ROUGE — The Mental Health Association for Greater Baton Rouge recently conducted a successful fund-raising raffle with a big assist from LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri.
Mainieri offered as the first-place prize in the raffle a dinner with he and his wife, Karen. The raffle drawing has been completed, and the winner is finalizing a date for the dinner, which will take place at Ruffino’s Restaurant in Baton Rouge.
“Coach Mainieri has been extremely accommodating and very unselfish with his support and time,” said Melissa Silva, executive director of the Mental Health Association. “We are grateful for his kind heart.”
Silva said Mainieri was very active in promoting the raffle, even during a fast-paced baseball season that culminated with LSU winning the 2009 national championship.
The Mental Health Association, founded in 1954, serves the Capital Area Untied Way 10-parish area including, East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Ascension, Iberville, Livingston, St. James, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Pointe Coupee and St. Helena.
The mission of the association is to provide services for persons with or at risk for mental health and substance abuse issues.
By 2010, the population served by the Mental Health Association catchment area is projected to be 736,000 persons, of whom 10-15% will experience some form of mental illness with 5% suffering from the most debilitating kinds of mental illness.
“The fact that Coach Mainieri is a great coach, but even a better person was noted more than once by several of my Board members,” Silva said. “His support revealed his heart and soul. We will remain forever thankful.”