WESTERVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) – Westerville community members came together Saturday for A Night of Hope, a family-run event to raise awareness for mental health.

The run, organized by the Westerville Education Challenge (WEC), is being held for the first time.

Runners in the 5K race took off just after 6 p.m. for the first of three runs Saturday. A one-mile race left the starting blocks at 7 p.m., while a family fun run took off at 7:30 p.m.

The event is all about raising awareness for mental health and working to end the stigma surrounding it.

The Westerville Education Challenge was inspired last year by one of its members, who ran for 24 hours – more than 100 miles – to raise awareness for mental health. That runner’s father died by suicide, and that runner was at Saturday’s event, with dozens of others who have personal connections to the cause.

“For us, WEC, that’s our mission; to provide as much support as we can,” said WEC President Kristan Robertson. “We start in our district and then we filter out into the community, and our hope is just to raise awareness and let people know that they are not alone.”

In addition to more than 100 runners, the district’s canine companion dog Twinkle joined the event.