Foundation Benefit Financial, Artistic Success

The American Psychiatric Foundation's annual benefit proved to be an excellent mix of fine art, southern cuisine, and highly successful fund raising.

The benefit, whose theme was “Georgia on My Mind,” was held May 21 at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. The event, held the evening before the APA annual meeting's opening, brought together clinicians, mental health care administrators, advocates, and patients to further efforts of the foundation and APA to spread the message to the public that mental illness is not only real, it is treatable.

The evening turned out to be quite successful, taking in more than $160,000. Support came from both individuals and corporations. A silent auction brought in an additional $2,500 that will go to the artists whose works were featured and sold.

Each of the artists who contributed works to the silent auction is a patient at Skyland Trail, a nationally recognized mental health treatment facility in Atlanta. The foundation invited Skyland Trail to cohost the benefit after the facility won the APA 2004 Psychiatric Services Gold Achievement Award for its outstanding and innovative community-based treatments.

More information on the foundation is posted online at<www.psychfoundation.org>. Information on Skyland Trail is posted at<www.skylandtrail.org/>.▪