The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) North Bay and District challenged our community to push for better mental health with the Push-Up Challenge in February, and North Bay rose to the challenge, with local participants achieving impressive success in honour of Nate Sinclair.
From February 11 to 28, local “Champs” joined more than 70,000 participants nationwide to raise awareness and critical funds for mental health support.
In its second year in Canada, the Push-Up Challenge raised more than $3.9 million for CMHA and participants logged more than 60 million push-ups.
Locally, $58,921 was raised to support at-risk clients with emergency financial assistance and community suicide prevention initiatives.
“The response to this year’s Push-Up Challenge has been astounding,” said Mary Davis, CEO of CMHA North Bay and District in a release.
“The goal is to be a fun, active way to fundraise and get people talking about mental health. Completing 2,000 push-ups symbolizes the 2,000 lives lost to suicide worldwide every day worldwide. Stats like this shared throughout the challenge really brought home what it’s about.
“We are grateful to our local Champs for their support.”
See related: Nate Sinclair's tragic death inspires pushup challenge while raising awareness for teen suicide
See related: Nate Sinclair's tragic story gives a face to teen suicide
Key contributors included Nate Sinclair Friends and Family, which raised $41,559 in honour of Nate, who died by suicide in 2024. The community, composed of Nate’s closest friends and family, as well as classmates and peers from hockey, powerlifting and Nordic skiing, became the top fundraising community and team in Canada. Nate’s father, Rod Sinclair, took fifth place on the national individual leaderboard.
The mother-son duo of Amanda and Daniel, who completed the challenge in 2024, returned in 2025.
"Mental health matters more than people realize…we need to be louder. We need real change, more support, more understanding, and less stigma, and that is what this challenge is all about,” Amanda said.
Local mental health awareness group Chasing Clarity teamed up with local firefighters to complete the challenge because, “it’s about starting conversations, building community, and making sure that no one feels like they have to fight in the fog alone.”