Events

Kent County Farm Bureau invites community leaders to a breakfast on Tuesday, September 30, 2025 to not just talk about rural mental health, but to learn practical steps to lead change in your sphere of influence. 

Our rural neighbors are 70% more likely to succumb to suicide than our urban neighbors, with farmers having a suicide rate 3.5 times the general population. This is a crisis. The people closest to the problem are best suited to solve it, so we hope to see you on September 30. 

Community Leader Breakfast: Empowering Minds Leadership Session 

What if we measured a community’s wealth not in dollars, but in the well-being of its people? In the Old English sense, wealthy meant “well” — healthy in mind, body, and spirit. That kind of wealth is built upstream, through prevention, connection, and leadership that ensures no one faces mental health challenges alone. 

At this powerful breakfast, Ian Hill — award-winning rural mental health advocate and founder of the Empowering Minds initiative — will bring together Kent County’s leaders to tackle a growing challenge: rising rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide, especially in high-risk industries like agriculture, construction, and resource-based work. Through real examples and proven strategies, Ian will show how alignment between education, government, faith, and social services can create a united front against mental health stigma and isolation. 

You’ll leave with a clear understanding of the problem, a vision of what upstream prevention looks like in action — from school-based early intervention to workplace mental health programs — and practical steps to lead change in your own sphere of influence. This is more than a meeting; it’s the first step toward building a truly wealthy, well community. 

Please RSVP by September 26 | surveymonkey.com/r/829C23J

Please join us at the Fairway Building of the Grand Agricultural Events Center (13995 Cascade Road, Lowell). Doors open at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast provided. The program will begin at 8:00 a.m. and conclude around 9:00 a.m. Please share this with other leaders who are community difference makers! 

Sincerely, 
Kent County Farm Bureau Board of Directors