Transcript:
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Brad Caruso:
Welcome to Civic Warriors, brought to you by Withum. On this podcast, we bring the conversation to you, sharing, engaging stories that motivate and build consensus in the nonprofit community. This podcast is about the innovators, the leaders on the front lines of adversity, guiding lights in the nonprofit industry affecting change. And through their stories, we can all join forces to become civic warriors. Hey, warriors. Welcome to today’s episode of Civic Warriors, brought to you by Withum. I’m your host, Brad Caruso, leader of Withum’s, not-for-Profit practice. Our guest today is Vince Giardino, founder of The Wake Up Project. Uh, Vince is also a marketing professional here at Withum. The Wake Up project is a 501c3, not-for-profit organization, and was founded with the goal of making a positive difference in the world while focusing on creating a positive atmosphere for all. The Wake Up Project is all about making a difference in the community.
Brad Caruso:
They believe that they can use the power of wakeboarding to bring people together and truly change the world. They’re looking to change the way people view suicide and mental illness, as well as change the way people interact with those that are struggling with suicidal thoughts and or mental illness, as we are all human beings on the same planet, and nobody deserves to go through life feeling like they’re worth any less than the person next to them. The Wake Up is their signature charity event, in which all the event proceeds are being donated directly towards the fight for suicide prevention and mental health awareness. And for the first time since 2019, uh, they’re hosting their signature event in July of 2024. So, with that background, Vince, welcome to the show.
Vince Giardino:
Thanks, Brad. Happy to be here. I’m excited to have a conversation with you today.
Brad Caruso:
Awesome. Um, so Vince, share with the audience a little bit about, about your background and, uh, and a little general information about The Wake Up Project itself.
Vince Giardino:
Yeah, absolutely. I, um, I, I grew up, I was raised in, uh, south Jersey, uh, small town, uh, for those familiar with the area. I went to Stockton University, um, was a marketing major, um, where I originally got the idea. Um, so while I was in college, I put all this together and was, you know, trying to figure out a way to make the, The Wake Up Project come to life From there, graduated was really focused on it. Things were going well, we were making a difference. Decided I should get closer to Orlando, um, where all the wakeboarding really happens. Uh, came down here for my MBA and then Covid happened. So I’ve been living in Orlando, been through Covid, um, still maintain a, a brand, you know, reputation with The Wake Up Project in South Jersey that that’ll always be home. My, my main priority will always be, um, you know, making a difference in that community. Um, and so, you know, uh, everything kind of fell in line for me to put things back together and, and have the wakeboard competition again, um, which is in Mays Landing. Awesome. So excited for that to happen.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah, no doubt. And it’s cool that you’re, for the first time in a long time, you know, hosting that event and, um, you know, are passionate about wakeboarding itself. I’m sure a lot of folks in the audience aren’t too, uh, aren’t too familiar with wakeboarding. You know, it definitely is a, a niche market and, um, some people know it and love it, and some people have never done it or never heard of it. So <laugh>
Vince Giardino:
Yeah, just like anything else, you know, you have, um, it’s Masters week, so you got your big, your, your golf fans out there this week. Um, you got your, just, just like any other, you know, football fan, baseball fan, you know, people love it, or, or they have no idea what it is.
Brad Caruso:
No doubt. Um, you know, so as I was reading the, in the intro and, and you know, doing more research on the organization, and you obviously live in it, you know, the organization, um, you know, has a mission and, and, and a focus on, you know, suicide, mental illness, uh, helping those, struggling with, with, um, you know, some of the challenges that arise from, from those, those, um, diseases and things of those nature. Um, you know, why, why, uh, you know, why start The Wake Up Project? Why, why is this cause, uh, important to you?
Vince Giardino:
That’s a great question. Um, I mean, I’ve been in this space for, for a while now. Um, nobody is in this space for, for a positive backstory, right? Um, unfortunately, I, I grew up in a town, um, and it’s a small enough town where everybody knows everybody. Um, and, uh, there’s just been way too many youth suicides. Um, so that falls into the ages of 10 to 24. Um, but, you know, primarily high school students tend to be the, you know, large demographic there. Um, and within my four years of high school, it was unfortunately a common theme. Something I, uh, went through with my friend group, you know, too often, um, none of my close, close friends, um, luckily in high school, um, but it, you know, people that were close enough to us, um, I didn’t think that at 18 years old, I should have a routine for what happens when you get news like that.
Vince Giardino:
Um, and you’re in the group chat with your friends at five o’clock in the morning making plans on, you know, who’s going over to whose house to console each other and be there for one another. Um, and I was just looking at the world through that lens, like, this is not, um, this is not okay. This is not normal, you know, my friends and I shouldn’t be going through this. Um, and, uh, I felt like that for a long time. Um, and then, um, in 2016, my, uh, younger cousin, uh, was in eighth grade, um, and he took his own life, and that was the closest it had struck me up to that point. Um, and, um, you know, for about a year I was focused on everybody else, you know, how’s his, uh, brother and sister doing? How are his parents doing? How are my parents doing?
Vince Giardino:
Um, you know, I was trying to focus on the family and just be that rock. Um, you know, a year, year and a half go by and you realize you’ve never paid attention to your own grief or, or what you can do to take care of yourself. Um, and this idea kind of popped into my head. Um, everybody was real supportive of it, and I was like, let me, let me see what can happen. Um, obviously this is hosted by Withum, I’m sure you’re gonna ask me all the accounting questions later, and we can get into the back story on how an actual organization and, and nonprofit corporation came out of that idea. But, um, you know, everything I do is, is in honor of him and, um, the, the family’s still supportive. And I think, you know, it’s something the South Jersey community needs. And, um, you know, as, as long as there are still people out there struggling, I, I want to keep the organization going and doing whatever I can do, you know, for my part. And at least I can say at the end of the day that, you know, I did my best or I did, you know, whatever it is that I can do.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah, I love that. And, and I, I commend you, you know, I’m sorry for your loss. And, and, and in the bigger picture too, you know, proud of you for, you know, taking that and then doing something so positive for so many people. You know, mental health itself is a, uh, is a, is an enigma. Some people struggle with it, some people don’t. Some people go down this rabbit hole and, and, you know, for those that have ever been in that boat, it feels alone. People can reach out to you all they want, and sometimes they’re receptive to it. Sometimes they’re not. It certainly is a challenge. And, and the fact that you’re, you’ve ra you know, created an organization that’s raising awareness, the fact that you’re raising funds for this, cause the fact that you’re helping, you know, you’re, you’re paying it forward and helping others, uh, that otherwise may, may or may not have, have been helped.
Brad Caruso:
I think that’s awesome. And starting a charity in itself is not easy. Um, you know, for those out there that, that have, that, that run a charity, you know, fundraising has, is challenging and we’ll get into that. Um, but also just starting an entity itself, like, you know, what do I need to know? What do I need to do? What are some of the things that I need to be aware of as I’m doing this? On top of the fact that, you know, the whole purpose of you doing is, is mission oriented, you know, all the other stuff is generally speaking, paperwork, just to be able to operate in the capacity you want to. So, you know, it’s really awesome that you’re able to take a passion of yours, like wakeboarding, turn it into something that helps other folks, and then give back to a cause that has both personally affected you and, you know, you’re personally passionate about. I think that’s, I think that’s phenomenal. And as a young professional, you know, you have everything else going on in your life too. You’re running this on the side. I mean, this is a, for all intents and purposes, a full-time volunteer activity to, to make it happen properly. So really, really commend you for that, that effort.
Vince Giardino:
No, I appreciate that. And, uh, yeah, you’re right. It’s full-time volunteering. Um, you know, you gotta find that motivation at 11 o’clock at night, you know, when you gotta be up the next morning for work, to, to send those emails and, and find some sponsors and do the, the organizational paperwork accounting’s, not my forte. I’m always afraid I’m gonna go to jail for filing something wrong. But <laugh>,
Vince Giardino:
Hopefully, if it comes to that, they’ll gimme the benefit of the doubt for trying to do something good.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah, yeah. No, no, you can call that fear as long as you’re not stealing, you know, everything else can be, uh, you know, fixed in general, but, uh, you know, fraud, fraud is difficult to fix. Yeah. Yeah. So, so wakeboarding itself, um, you know, talking about that and, and I guess just, uh, you know, giving the audience a little background, you know, how, how would you, you know, educate the audience a little bit on wakeboarding, you know, talk, talk about some of the, uh, you know, some of the basics, how does it work and, uh, you know, why you love it?
Vince Giardino:
Well, I love it because when I came up with this idea, I was kind of good at it. And so people would come out and see me, and then I got to show off. Um, obviously everybody likes doing the things that they’re good at a little bit more than doing the things they struggle at. But just to kind of explain the sport a little bit, it’s wakeboarding is to water skiing. You know, what snowboarding is to, to snow skiing. So you’re getting towed by a boat, you know, you’re out on a, a rope behind it. Um, and so water skiing has a few different disciplines. Most people might know that as like a slum skiing where you’re going back and forth really fast. Um, wakeboarding has more of a, um, like optimal speed that creates the biggest wake behind the boat, and you can, you know, get some speed into that wake and use it as a ramp.
Vince Giardino:
Um, there’s, I mean, the, um, one of the pros in Orlando, um, last summer just landed the first ever triple flip, uh, behind a boat. Um, so there is some insane things going on in, in the sport, uh, just like any other action sport. Um, it’s just positive vibes. Um, all everybody’s, you know, friendly and, and they just love it, and they push the sport forward. Um, so it’s the perfect, you know, thing, in my opinion, on the mental health side, if you come out to the event, whether you’re competing in the event watching, you might just come to have lunch with your family at the food trucks and see what’s going on at the park, whatever it might be, you’re gonna be in the best environment. Um, socially, everyone is just the nicest person you’ve ever met in your life. They actually care about other people. Um, and it’s like that, that natural mindset, um, you know, a lot of people might think of it as like a surfer attitude from movies or something if they’re not familiar with action sports. But, um, in my experience, it’s, it, it’s the best demographic out there for genuinely appreciating humanity and and caring about one another without, you know, whatever they’re gonna get in return.
Brad Caruso:
Love it. Yeah. And, and I can’t imagine doing a triple flip on a wakeboard ’cause how fast does the boat go when it’s towing you?
Vince Giardino:
Uh, he is probably going somewhere between 22 and 24 miles an hour, but
Brad Caruso:
That’s in a boat. Yeah. What’s in a car that’s like equivalent plus boat’s going that?
Vince Giardino:
So if you’re, you know, I’m not a physics, uh, expert, but you’re definitely going faster than that when you’re cutting in at full speed.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. Yeah. So for the audience, if you’re thinking about, you know, trying wakeboarding and trying to do a triple flip on a wakeboard, you’re going, you’re probably going like 30, 40 miles an hour in the air and then flipping, and then somehow landing while holding onto a rope <laugh> Yeah. Or holding onto a grip on the rope.
Vince Giardino:
Yeah. Yeah, Andrew, just putting all that, uh, trust in the driver of the boat as well, uh, <laugh>.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah, there you go. You know, you’re trusting another human. So, you know, so, so dovetailing from that, and when we’re, when we’re talking about, you know, the purpose of the organization and the mission, you know, from, from your perspective, I guess, you know, how does, is there a mental health aspect or is there, you know, does wakeboarding provide individuals with, you know, a benefit that you see?
Vince Giardino:
Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, my original idea, um, you know, it was formed because that was, my cousin and I wakeboarded together a lot. That was our, you know, bonding time. Um, so I didn’t like originally look into the mental health benefits of it, you know, I was like, this is what we did. This is how I’m gonna honor him. Um, but then when you, you know, get down and actually analyze it, um, any form of exercise is good for your mental health. Um, when you make that exercise fun, um, more people can get involved. Um, a lot of people, you know, some people like going to the gym for two hours, curling, staring at the mirror, and that’s good for their mental health. Um, that’s not good for my mental health. I can’t just stand in a gym and, and do repetitive things, um, you know, in the mirror.
Vince Giardino:
Um, but I can go out there and I’ll try to do the same back flip a hundred times in a row and it’ll, you know, make me happy or make me feel good. Might not be able to walk the next day, but <laugh>, um, yeah, it’s a good excuse to, to take a rest day after that. Um, and so you’re looking at, you know, that exercise, then you’re looking at nature. So you have your fresh air, you’re on the water, and you’re getting, you know, sunshine, um, vitamin D, all of those things are attributed to more positive moods, less depression. I mean, if you look at just a world map, climates that are sunnier warmer near the water tend to have lower rates of depression and, and other suicidal ideation. I mean, there’s plenty of mental illnesses out there that are not affected by the weather, but as far as depression goes, anxiety, things like that, um, you know, sunny weather just tends to be the, the best medicine for it.
Vince Giardino:
And then the, the other thing with it is a large part of your depression, your anxiety, whatever it might be, you know, it doesn’t just appear one day, it stems from this bottled up energy, um, that you just keep, you know, kicking down the road and you’re like, oh, I’ll worry about it one day. I’ll worry about it one day. And next thing you know, you have a serious anxiety problem, a serious depression problem, and, um, all of a sudden it’s, it’s not so easy to, to, you know, try and recover from that. Um, but wakeboarding, I mean, you go out there and fall on a hundred back flips in a day, you’re gonna release plenty of bottled up energy. Um, so, you know, it, it’s, um, it’s a good outlet. Uh, but like anything else, it’s, it’s specific to the person too. Um, you know, I wouldn’t say that it’s gonna fix everyone’s mental health. If you’re depressed, uh, I’m happy to take you out on the boat and, and see if it works for you, but totally understand if you’re like, this isn’t for me.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. And everything you said, I mean, you know, all of, all of those items and, and you know, if anyone is listening and, you know, let’s say you are having, you know, struggling a little bit, I think, you know, there’s always, there’s a common theme and, you know, maybe wakeboarding isn’t always the answer, but, but to Vince’s point, you know, being outside in nature, um, being around people, um, doing something that’s, that you enjoy doing, uh, or are passionate about, um, doing something that’s hard, um, you know, doing something that’s difficult, like physically difficult, you know, and, and, and as as mentioned, it doesn’t have to be, uh, you know, you go in and lugging a thousand pounds in a gym, um, it could just be running a mile. I mean, that, you know, that’s hard for me. I, I struggled to run a mile.
Brad Caruso:
I’ve never, I’ve never been a runner. But, you know, and wake, I mean, I’m sure if I tried to, you know, wake when I know the first, uh, first time I ever, uh, got towed on a rope in a boat, I was on a knee board <laugh>, and I was holding on the rope, and no one told me to let go of the rope once, uh, you know, once you fall off the board <laugh>. And so, uh, yeah, I, uh, lost my shorts. It’s, um, I I lost my shorts, as they say, <laugh>. It was awful. Yeah. I started flopping in the Water’s. It was bad.
Vince Giardino:
That disclaimer out there that, uh,
Brad Caruso:
Let go of the rope, make
Vince Giardino:
Sure you get all the information before you’re 60 feet behind the boat and can’t hear anybody, uh, that knows what they’re, they’re doing, uh, <laugh> and I mean,
Brad Caruso:
I piloting on the water 25 miles an hour, <laugh>.
Vince Giardino:
Yeah. I, you know, that when I still lived in Jersey near the lake, like, you know, I used to do lessons and things like that and take people on the boat almost every single day between Memorial Day and Labor Day, uh, you know, the summertime up there, and if I did a hundred lessons a year, there’s still four or five times I forgot to give them all the information. And you know, now the boat’s driving and there’s nothing you could do about it, but hopefully nobody gets hurt. And it’s, you know, a memory to, to laugh on when they get back in the boat.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. Without question. Yeah. So, I mean, I guess, I guess if we’re, as we’re dovetailing and talking more, and, and kind of diving into this, this topic, when we, when we think about, um, you know, the term mental health, and we think about, you know, all the things that go in length that is a generalized term, um, it is used in a, in a variety of different ways. There are all hosts of different, uh, mental health type struggles. When we’re talking about this topic, what, what is often, you know, from your perspective, what is often not talked about when you hear the term mental health and, and kind of like how the public views it, you know, it, whether you’re someone struggling or, or, you know, when you hear that term, you know, what, what does that, what does that resonate or how does that resonate with you?
Vince Giardino:
I think, you know, most, importantly, um, even like, you just, um, asked it as, you know, other people that are struggling, um, you know, the first step always has to be to take care of yourself first. And I think we’ve come a long way in promoting mental health awareness and, um, ending the stigma and all these different campaigns that, you know, a lot of really, really good charities put out there and build, you know, solid marketing materials to get that out in front of people so that, um, you know, we can share that information and, and try to all be better as a, a society. Um, but we never start those campaigns with, you know, take care of yourself. Um, we have influencers and businesses and all of these people in the world that promote the importance of physical health. Um, they say, you know, workout every day.
Vince Giardino:
Nickelodeon used to have commercials when I was growing up to go exercise for 30 minutes a day to try and combat, you know, childhood obesity. Um, just like your physical health. You, you need to exercise your mental health and take care of yourself. And, um, you know, we, we aren’t at a point, um, in society yet where we have commercials for what, however old you’re at Nickelodeon, like seven, 10 years old. Like, nobody’s telling them, Hey, you should go meditate for 30 minutes a day and really think about yourself. And even we might tell each other that as adults, but for example, like Withum has plenty of reimbursements for us going to the gym and, you know, being involved in like adult recreational sports leagues and, and things that take care of our physical health. And obviously we have, you know, good benefits and things like that to get mental health resources if needed.
Vince Giardino:
Um, but we just haven’t built out those perks in any part of society, corporate America, childhood entertainment, uh, high schools and colleges. We, we just haven’t built a system where we’re promoting people to take care of themselves for 30 minutes a day, an hour a day, five hours a week, whatever it is that would be recommended. That’s the biggest thing, um, because you can’t take care of anybody else that’s struggling unless you’re 100% solid yourself. And, you know, it doesn’t mean that you’re never gonna have any problems or that your problems are completely past you if you’re recovering from a, a mental health situation. But you’re only, like, any team is only as, you know, good as its weakest player. You know, that’s a, a common thing. Um, you can only help somebody as, as much as you have in you. You can’t give anybody a hundred percent of your time if you’re not a hundred percent healthy yourself.
Brad Caruso:
Very true. And, and, yeah, just, just to add to that too, the, the, the thing that I, I generally hear or don’t hear, I should say, is exactly as you said there, there’s a lot of people concentrate on things, and, and you’re right, there are benefits that are offered in different ways. You know, the challenge with, uh, with mental health is there’s no real roadmap for it that I’ve, I’ve seen. And it’s hard. It’s, it’s, you know, it’s not like there’s a fix. It’s <laugh>. You know, I think that, I think this, you know, uh, as a person, you know, personally, I’ve, I’ve, uh, I’ve had some very serious struggles in my life. And, and the, the thing that’s the hardest thing, the hardest pill to swallow in all of this, um, is that there’s no easy fix. There’s no, you know, here’s a drug you can take and it, and it’ll make that voice in your mind, stop.
Brad Caruso:
Like, there’s no, I mean, there is, but it, you know, causes other problems that nobody wants. Um, you know, there’s no, um, you wake up tomorrow and just change, right? It’s not like, all right, like, you know, let’s say I, I have a weight issue and I want to go lose that weight. Well, you know, there’s a pretty clear plan you can take to make that happen. And the challenge with, because of the mechanism for which mental health struggles are caused, um, you know, some of them are anxiety type disorders, some of them are PTSD type disorders, panic attacks. I mean, all of these things kind of are, are in different, different verticals. And so there’s not like a roadmap of like, well, here’s what you can do. However, there are a lot of tools that if you know how to access them can greatly help you.
Brad Caruso:
As an example, you know, I go to Therapy Weekly. I still do, and I’ve been doing that since I’ve been 16, going for that one hour a week, which insurance covers it, which is awesome. Um, you know, going for that one hour a week really helps, um, it, does it solve my problems? No. You know, is sometimes that, you know, hour you talk to someone helpful. Uh, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. But I can tell you that if I don’t do that, versus I do do that, I go through my day in a better, in a different way than if I don’t do that. Um, you know, I know when I exercise in the morning, it makes me, it changes my mindset towards the day, and that’s because I did something difficult. That’s because, you know, different endorphins get released, so you, you some things that would bother you, don’t bother you as much, um, you know, getting enough sleep, you know, all these things.
Brad Caruso:
So, you know, my, you know, as I hear you talk, Vince, and, and kind of just throwing my 2 cents on this whole thing, you know, as if you are someone that’s struggling with this, you know, no one out there is gonna be able to give you the answer. And, and honestly, nobody will give you the answer. You know, people, a lot of people will tell you like, I can’t help you. Um, which is very hard to hear when you’re going through a tough time. And so for anybody that is going through a tough time, the thing that I would layer on here is that you have to look at it as, I’m looking in the long term, not the short term, and I’m going to do, I, I have to be very disciplined about doing various things that I know help, and I have to be able to accept that whatever the issue is that I’m going through, it’s not an issue that can be solved. However, it’s an issue that you can definitely manage with the right resources.
Vince Giardino:
Yeah, absolutely. And like, let, let’s be clear about one thing. You can still help people if you’re struggling, but it’s, you know, it’s the power of sharing your story, right? Like that can help motivate other people to take care of themselves and, and improve. Let’s just be clear that, you know, no matter what you’re going through or struggling, like you can always help other people. Um, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have a, a part to play in this whole situation of, of promoting mental health awareness and, and ending suicide. But, you know, you have different ways. So anybody that’s struggling out there, by sharing your story, um, sometimes that helps you personally, and it’ll also help motivate other people. Um, and then, you know, just by being aware of, of mental health issues and not an antagonizing anybody else that’s experiencing them, um, you know, if somebody’s going through depression or anxiety or, or bipolar disorder or anything, um, along those lines, um, just stay away from antagonizing it. And that in itself is, you know, a, a positive result.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. Love that message. That’s, that’s the right message. And, and, um, you know, help your neighbor. I mean, you hear, um, those that have been listening to a lot of our podcast episodes, it’s a big theme of what we, what we emphasize is, is helping others. It’s being there for other people. It’s, it’s, you know, not only other nonprofits like Vince’s that are there for you, but also as a, as a person in society, you know, it’s never easy. Um, it’s never easy to help people, but, but it’s good to help people. And you know, a lot of times when people are going through a struggle, they don’t necessarily want to reach out. Maybe they don’t want, you know, necessarily to burden somebody. I know a lot of folks that struggle with different, different types of, uh, types of things. They, they don’t want people to help, but sometimes, you know, interjecting yourself and just getting people to talk, as Vince said, or getting people to, you know, talk through some of those challenges really is helpful, uh, on a variety of levels. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative>. So, yeah. Great message.
Vince Giardino:
Yeah, it’s, it’s always hard to, to help people, you know, when they want to be helped. There’s very little you can do when they don’t wanna be helped. Um, but, you know, that’s, that’s the battle in, in this mental health arena that we look at that’s so large, right? Um, if you’re going through a suicidal ideation or a suicide attempt or something like that, we just have to find ways to force our way into help and keep you alive. Uh, that’s, that’s an emergency situation. We want to keep you alive, um, and we’re gonna be okay if you get mad at us for that after the fact, but you’re still gonna be alive. You’re still gonna be here on the planet. Um, it’s common in, let’s say, like substance abuse issues. Um, you know, you can’t force somebody to go to rehab unless they want help. It’s well documented that that’s never worked. Um, the best you can do is give them, uh, all the information you have at hand, um, and support them and just hold their hand until they’re ready to make that decision on their own. Uh, if that makes sense.
Brad Caruso:
Makes a ton of sense. And, you know, once again, if you’re someone, you know, just going through personal experiences of myself, um, like I said, you know, sometimes it’s you, you know, you feel embarrassed or you don’t want to ask for help, always ask for help. Oh, you know, ask, ask, uh, if somebody asks me, I will drop everything I’m doing and say what, you know, what’s going on? You know? And then as the person that is helping, um, you have to be a really good listener. And, you know, sometimes those folks don’t need, you know, don’t want you to tell them what to do or don’t want them to kind of like, interject all these, be a good listener, open your ear. How can I help you? You know, what would be beneficial for you in this scenario? And, and, and be there for that person. That, and that’s, you know, I know personal experience, that’s a, uh, goes a long way in, um, you know, valuing that person and that person feeling valued by, by that, um, by that conversation. Um, but it’s, it’s difficult, you know, it’s not easy.
Vince Giardino:
Yeah. I, I’m very much the, the same way there. Um, you know, I’m always willing to have a conversation. Uh, I’ve obviously, I’ve dedicated a large part of my life to this specific cause, um, and trying to make a difference. But I’ve, I’ve been on, you know, both ends. I’ve had phone calls wake me up at three, four o’clock in the morning because my contact information is out there on the internet, and people are struggling and they, they want help. And, uh, that’s shocking for a 20-year-old kid to wake up in that situation and, and try to figure out the right thing to do. Um, but the other end of that is, you know, I have this whole organization and this audience and, and all of these people that have access to my platforms, and it’s just sharing out as much information as possible for the anonymous resources. If you think that you, I know who you are or, or that you’re just not comfortable speaking with me, I’m not clinically trained on any of this. I have to, you know, get doctors and psychologists and things like that involved. But getting that information out there, so you have the anonymous resource and nobody ever has to even know that you, you called the helpline. Um, but you might not know it exists if, um, you know, if we’re not putting it out there and promoting it to our audience.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. Without a doubt. Can you, can you talk about, I know you have a lot of good resources that, uh, that I saw on, you know, available publicly. Can you talk about some of the resources that, that you have that are, that are available? Um, I think you had a, a very, very strong guide in your website, a suicide prevention guide and, and a few other things. Um, can you just talk briefly about, about what those are and, and how to access them?
Vince Giardino:
Yeah. Yeah. So, um, in 2021, we, we released a, a suicide prevention guide, and we partnered with some other nonprofits to put that out there. And it got a lot of, um, publicity and, and hopefully it helps somebody. Um, but the, the biggest resource out there, um, is the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. A lot of people, uh, might know that from Logic’s song. A couple years ago, the title of this song was the Old number. Um, now it’s 9 8 8. So Congress had approved, um, not too long ago to make it more accessible. So now anywhere in the US you dial 9, 8 8, and you get the Suicide prevention lifeline. There’s also more local specific resources in most places. Um, almost, I know in New Jersey, almost every county has a mental health association with, you know, a website and a list of local resources that they can have.
Vince Giardino:
And then a lot of states have their own. So, um, on our suicide prevention guide, we’re very New Jersey based. We have the New Jersey Hope Line. You can go to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on, uh, online. Um, there’s text hotlines. And then, um, there’s also more specific like specified hotlines for what you’re specifically going through or what demographic you fall into. Um, so one of the, the big ones is, um, the L-G-B-T-Q Youth Hotline, which is, I believe it’s run by another charity, um, in honor of an L-G-B-T-Q youth that took their own life a few years ago. Um, and then another great resource is, um, the United Way, which is, you know, a huge nonprofit. They have a phone number 2 1 1 in any area that the United Way has an organization in place, or a chapter in place. You can call 2 1 1. And not just mental health resources, anything you need. Um, if you’re experiencing homelessness, hunger, any type of thing that there’s like philanthropy money behind, you can call that number and they will direct you to the nearest resource and stay on the phone with you and help you in any way that they can.
Brad Caruso:
Awesome. Yeah, no, thank you for sharing those. I think, you know, certainly, uh, it’s important to get that information out there. ’cause I, I don’t know that, you know, it’s not highly publicized. The 9, 8 8, it, you know, it’s not highly publicized. A lot of these, you know, everyone knows 9 1 1, everybody I think a lot, you know, 2 1 1 is, is publicized. You see it, you know, in advertisements, especially in in Jersey, I see a lot of like advertisements and things out there for it, but rarely do you ever see, you know, the suicide prevention hotline, uh, promoted. Um, so I’m glad we’re getting that information out there. Um, yeah, switching gears a little bit. So, you know, certainly, uh, running a not-for-profit is not easy. Um, you know, as, as a young professional, um, you have a lot, a lot going on. Um, and fundraising is not easy. So even if you, even if it is your full-time job and, and trying to pull off a fundraising event, it’s not easy. Um, you know, how, how do you organize a large scale event like a wakeboard and competition, um, you know, in your spare time and, and, you know, make all this happen? You know, what, what’s your secret sauce?
Vince Giardino:
Um, whew. Uh, the, I I think, you know, my professional passion lies, you know, in, um, events and marketing and, you know, I, I guess fundraising in a way. Obviously, you know, in a for-profit career, it’s, it’s making money. But, um, fundraising, it, it comes down to the same thing. Um, you’re providing the value to the community rather than the customer or client. Um, but it’s still, uh, some sort of trade of value. Um, nobody just gives you money ’cause they think you have a good idea or you’re a good person.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. Per personal connection, as well as, um, you know, seeing the, seeing the benefit of the, the cause you’re serving are definitely important in all of that. Um, you know, what, what’s next for The Wake Up Project? You know, I know maybe if you wanna talk a little bit about the competition coming up as well as kind of where you see, you know, where you see the organization, you know, going,
Vince Giardino:
Yeah. So, um, we gotta see how big we can go this July. Um, we had so much momentum in 2019 before Covid kinda halted some of our events. Um, and then me moving to Orlando and, and going through the pandemic down here, it, you know, created this five year gap, right? Um, but in 2019, we had 2000 people show up to the event. We raised $25,000 or more. We had 10 food trucks in the park. Um, we had a massive cornhole tournament, um, activation in the middle of the day. And so, you know, we’re trying to replicate that and potentially make it bigger this year. But like we just talked about the fundraising side, the more money we have, the, the more we can do. So, you know, just for the next three months is, you know, making sure we put together the best event we can put together for this year.
Vince Giardino:
And then once we see, you know, the outcome of that, it’s, you know, making sure that we, let’s say allocate, you know, whatever we bring in correctly. A big part of our mission and and how we use that money is we try to pay for the local high schools in South Jersey to offer youth mental health face, uh, first aid, uh, courses to the parents of those high schools. I believe students are allowed to take ’em if they’re old enough as well. Um, I think over 16 with, with parental consent. Um, and so we, you know, pay for the instructor’s fee and the course materials and things like that so that, you know, the parents can go and have peace of mind and, uh, learn a little bit more about, you know, how to spot the signs of whether or not their teenager is just being a teenager or whether they’re, they’re actually going through something that, uh, you know, should be paid attention to a little bit more, and maybe they need to get more involved on that end.
Vince Giardino:
Um, but I think, uh, long term, um, south Jersey, I, I told you South Jersey’s home, uh, it’s always gonna be important to me. My main priority is always going to be using this organization to, um, promote mental health awareness and, and suicide prevention in the South Jersey community. Um, but I’ve, you know, I’ve made, you know, a home for myself down here in Orlando, wakeboarding is so huge here, um, that if we can keep growing and, and keep making a difference, I, I wouldn’t rule out, you know, some sort of expansion or, or multiple events a year, um, between the, the two places that I call home.
Brad Caruso:
Love it. Yeah. Not easy, you know, but, uh, yeah, it’s really cool what you’re doing and, and, uh, you know, I always, I also, I love hearing, you know, when you know you’re raising these dollars and, you know, it’s not only about the actual wakeboard competition, it’s not only about the actual event, but it’s also then, you know, I appreciate what you say about, you know, how those dollars get used and, and you know, how you continue to help. I mean, that’s, that’s certainly, uh, you know, the purpose of an entity, but, uh, one purpose of the entity, I should say. And, uh, you know, it’s awesome to hear, and it’s awesome to hear that you’re thinking big, right? Like, you know, it’s easy to just say, oh, we’re just gonna do, you know this here, but, you know, you’re looking, how do you make the most impact and yeah.
Brad Caruso:
You know, visibility and, and that, you know, two locations instead of one. And then, you know, how do you bring that message to not only one market, but two markets? And it’s not easy, but you know, your head’s in that direction, which is awesome, you know, thinking about it and, and, and evaluating. So, you know, for those out there that are, you know, kind of starting your charity and, you know, it’s great to start small and it’s great to manage what, you know, you can manage, but over time, you know, as you’re making impact, you know, expanding that is, uh, it’s not easy, but it’s, it’s definitely something that, that aids in, in, in growing the message, which is, you know, the purpose of why you get into this altogether
Vince Giardino:
Mm-Hmm, <affirmative> and the size is not, you know, important. It’s, it’s the mission and it’s the motivation, and it’s, um, you know, the, the outcome. Um, so if you’re, you know, a, a one person shop and, and you’re making a difference in one other person’s life, and, um, you have the money to do it, that’s, that’s great. Um, or you could be, you know, the, the Red Cross and have millions of dollars and a full staff all around the world and, um, you know, make a difference, um, to humanity that way. Um, but the, the important part is just if, if you’re committed to it, you know there’s gonna be a positive outcome and, um, there’s gonna be people there to support you and help you along the way. I know it’s super common for people to start foundations and charities, you know, in honor of loved ones, um, and they come in all shapes and sizes, but, um, at least all of the ones that I’ve come across before are, you know, that I consider them a benefit to society.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. And there’s a place for all these organizations and on a variety of levels and, and, you know, the, uh, pay it forward concept goes a long way. So, I mean, even if your impact is you’ve helped one person and prevented them from committing suicide, I mean, I think saving a life is, uh, something that few, few people in this world do. And you’ve done that, you know, and I’m sure you have done that. Um, uh, I might in church on Sunday, we, uh, uh, have a class for my son and, and they, uh, read a children’s book every Sunday. And the book this weekend was called Extraordinary Mary. If you haven’t Read Extraordinary Mary, or you have children, you wanna read a good book about the Power of Giving. It’s a book just about a, a kid who does one nice thing, and then that one nice thing helps one person, and then that person does a nice thing and that person does a nice thing, and then all of the sudden, 30 people have a better day because of that.
Brad Caruso:
Like, one nice thing that that person did, and it, and it’s such a good like, story, but, but it’s exactly the story of like, no matter how small or or big your charity is, you helping that one person is then gonna, that person is gonna take that and guarantee use that information, and then help another person to help another person. So that’s why charities like yours are so beneficial and impactful because they’re focused. They’re, they’re looking at a community and they’re helping a community, and they’re helping individuals, and then those individuals guaranteed then take that information and then help other people. So that’s, that’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Vince Giardino:
I love that. Yeah. I, I think my organization’s a good example of doing what you can do, where your expertise lies and letting somebody else take over where, where your expertise ends, you know, whether it’s my professional career or, or The Wake Up Project or some of the boards I serve on, or whatever it might be. My, my background is in, you know, event planning, sales, marketing, raising money, things like that. Um, and, you know, once we have an event and bring in money, I distribute that to other people who are closer and more equipped to provide relief to, to somebody struggling with a mental illness rather than, you know, go out there and, you know, try to do that myself when I’m not trained for that particular service.
Brad Caruso:
Love it. Yeah. So as, as we wrap up here, um, you know, we always like to bring in a call to action to those in the audience and give people something they can take away from this. Um, you know, and I know, you know, we’ve, we’ve concentrated a lot of our conversation on not only running the nonprofit, but also mental health awareness, suicide prevention, and do other things on that topic. From your perspective, Vince, how do you identify signs that someone’s going through a tough time, and what can you do about it?
Vince Giardino:
Yeah, it, I, it’s important. Um, and obviously, you know, that goes back to the conversation where it’s like, take care of yourself first, because if, if you are in, in good mental health and you are taking care of yourself, then you are, uh, more likely and better equipped to notice those signs and, and do something about it if you see those signs. But it’s, you know, the biggest thing is, is gonna be like any erratic change in behavior, any extreme mood swing, anything that, that seems out of the ordinary that way with, with behavior and, and like ability to interact with, with others. Um, since my organization, you know, more specifically focuses on, on that youth demographic, it’s ages 10, 10 to 24, you know, a big reason why we promote the Youth Mental Health First Aid program is because so many of the signs and, and symptoms are the same exact signs and symptoms of just being a, a normal teenager.
Vince Giardino:
So, you know, sleeping more or less, eating more or less using, you know, drugs or alcohol more often, those are all signs. When I was a teenager, I slept until noon every single day that I didn’t set an alarm. So fortunately, never really had any mental health struggles when I was that age. Um, and then, you know, same thing with, with substance abuse, um, that substance abuse is, is a mental illness in itself. Um, but it’s not, not necessarily like a, a suicide ideation, uh, type of thing. Um, you know, there’s other reasons that lead to substance abuse, and there’s also, you know, some people just drink, you know, we go out for beers or something like that after work, but if there’s a massive change in the behavior or somebody is, you know, drinking or, or using drugs a lot more often than they had previously, um, that’s, that’s a major sign.
Vince Giardino:
Um, and, you know, obviously most adults will all agree that that’s definitely not the way to cope with anything that somebody might be struggling with in life. Um, so that’s something to pay attention to. And then on, on this suicidal front, people tend to have a natural instinct to want to live. And so people may start talking about, you know, wanting to die. They may start talking about experiencing, you know, large amounts of, of shame or guilt, um, or they may start talking about, you know, being a burden to others. Um, and that all tends to be, you know, more of a call out for help. Um, it’s very hard for somebody to just come out and, you know, say straightforwardly what they’re thinking and that they want help with that. Um, you know, but human beings are generally a lot smarter than we give them credit for. If they want to take their own life, they will hide it and conceal it very, very well. Or if they want somebody to step up to the plate and, you know, save them, um, they will show as many signs as possible. Um, but when you feel hopeless, you feel hopeless. And that’s what the rest of us have to be here for. We have to be there to, you know, help protect them and help, you know, show them the light out of hopelessness.
Brad Caruso:
Love that message. Phenomenal. Like, yeah. It’s so true though. I mean, and there’s different scenarios, as you said, and there’s different, different cases, but, uh, you know, all, all very valid points and, you know, really appreciate you sharing that candidly, you know, it’s important. It’s certainly important.
Vince Giardino:
Yeah, absolutely. And I just would, um, I know, I, I think we’re gonna, you know, um, be posting this out and getting it out there during May, which is Mental Health Awareness month. Um, so just wanted to share, you know, a message that I’m, you know, I’m a big supporter of, of therapy. Um, don’t let anybody, uh, tell you that you, you shouldn’t go to therapy. You know, there’s different things that work for different people, but you should try everything at your disposal. Um, you should also, you know, display gratitude to, you know, people because that when you’re displaying gratitude, it, it lets them know that, you know, you’re probably a person that they can go and talk to if they need somebody to talk to and somebody does something for you, or, or just the fact that they’re in your life. You know, just display that gratitude with them.
Vince Giardino:
Um, and then some statistics that I, I wanna leave with just to kind of emphasize how important this is and, and, um, kind of let the world know where we’re currently at on this, you know, mission to end suicide. Um, it’s the second leading cause of death, uh, in the United States for the demographic aged 10 years old to 34 years old. So, you know, youth and young adult, um, 13.6% of, uh, people aged 18 to 25 had serious thoughts about suicide. In 2023, 10% of high school students, uh, attempted suicide in 2023. Uh, 36% of college students are currently diagnosed with anxiety, and 30% of college students are currently diagnosed with depression. And quite frankly, those numbers are all incredibly scary. So I just wanted to shed some light on the importance of, you know, not only what my organization is doing, but what anybody in the mental health space is trying to do currently.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. Thank you for sharing those two. Yeah, I mean, it, it’s alarming when you hear the, hear the statistics and how wide spreading. It’s not one location, it’s not one, not even one age to be quite honest. I mean, it’s, it’s across the board and, uh, you know, just, just layers in how important the work you’re doing is, and, and how many people are affected by it. Um, yeah, it’s, it’s scary quite, quite frankly. And, and like you said, it’s the, if it’s the, you know, second leading cause of death, I mean, that’s not publicized. I mean, a lot of, you know, that’s not a commonly, you know, I’ve never heard a politician talk about it, <laugh>, you know, and it’s like, it’s such a, it’s such a plague on society, and it’s, and it’s not just the United States and it’s not, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s all across the world, uh, with the way the world is now. But, uh, yeah, no, I appreciate you sharing that. That’s awesome. But, you know, with that, um, we’re all wrap up. Is, uh, can you just reiterate, uh, if someone would like to attend your event, uh, how they could attend it or how they could find more information about it?
Vince Giardino:
So the event, uh, this year is gonna be Saturday, July 27th at Lake Lenape Park in Mays Landing, New Jersey. All the information will be on our website at our social media platform. So our website’s at thewakeupp.com, uh, with two Ps. And all of our social handles are the wake up with two Ps. We’re still looking for sponsors. We’ll be promoting the event. If, if you’re a wakeboarder and you wanna sign up, the registration will be out soon. You’re welcome to donate. We never turn away money. And then just because you’re not in South Jersey doesn’t mean, uh, that you can’t participate or spread the word. In 2019, we had riders come from the entire East Coast. So hopefully we’re gonna be able to garner that type of attraction again and, and try to, you know, spread a wider net over the US to get our message out there.
Brad Caruso:
Awesome. Well, you know, thank you so much Vince, for being here. Thank you for being on the show. Thank you for, uh, sharing all this relevant information. And as we, you know, enter Mental Health Awareness Month and provide more guidance and resources to individuals, um, you know, thank you so much for all the hard work you do and, and, uh, dedicating your time to solving such a challenging issue and, and being there for people. You know, it’s super important that, uh, for the work that you’re doing and, and, and being there for the world.
Vince Giardino:
And thank you for having me. I, I enjoyed the conversation. I, i really appreciate you and, and everybody else listening that, you know, supports the calls and, and supports the mission and, and wants to make the world a better place. Awesome.
Brad Caruso:
Thanks Vince and, uh, and Warriors. Thank you for listening. Subscribe and meet us right back here for another episode of Withum’s Civic Warriors in the near future. Bye everybody.
