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Music & Mocktails event brings mental health awareness to Aiken

Aiken Standard - 9/26/2021

Sep. 26—A music festival in Aiken celebrated hope and brought awareness to mental health while guests were able to enjoy food and music.

The Overflow Foundation sponsored the first edition of Music & Mocktails, a new annual event, bringing awareness to mental health and addiction during Suicide Awareness Month. It is a nonprofit organization that promotes mental health along with suicide prevention and provides mental health education to high schools and colleges.

"Overflow Foundation is committed to providing things in the community that are family friendly and healthy for our children who are coming up so that they are not focused on drugs and alcohol," said Terry Lee, the founder and executive director of the foundation.

The foundation was created in memory of Lee's son, Phillip Lee Jr. He was a professional singer-songwriter, and his first album was titled "Overflow," released in 2017.

"When we lost him to suicide in 2018, my daughter came up with the name overflow, we wanted it to be a continuation of his life, focusing on life and hope, rather than suicide," Lee said.

The Overflow Foundation has been planning the event over a year and wanted guests to know there is hope.

"The main thing I want people to take away is hope, we all struggle with difficult things in life whether it be COVID or finances, family relationships or aspects of our mental of or physical health and life gets difficult and seemingly hopeless for everyone one of us — there is hope," Lee said.

Referencing a hashtag — #PHIL — Lee said it stands for pouring hope into life. She added the night was not about suicide — it was about connection, being healthy and transparent with loved ones and being able to stay in a safe space.

Lee said the foundation wanted to encourage individuals who may be struggling with some aspect of their mental health or who may be recovering to see the Aiken Center representatives who were working near the Georgia Routes alcohol-free mocktail stand.

Georgia Routes was serving hand crafted mocktails to go along with the healthy family-friendly nature of the event. There was a drawing for different prizes if guests completed a survey at the Georgia Routes food truck.

Other vendors that showed up to support the event were Meadows of Grovetown, Palmetto Bowls, Pot Smokers BBQ, Deez Treats Italian Ice, Blossoms of Grace and Coach T's.

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