Vancouver indie band Proud Animal is in the North Okanagan this week as part of the ReachOut Psychosis Tour, which raises awareness for mental illness in youth.
The tour will take the band to A.L. Fortune Secondary School in Enderby and Armstrong’s Pleasant Valley Secondary School on Monday and Vernon’s Fulton and Kalamalka Secondary Schools on Tuesday.
The band is also giving a public performance at Vernon’s Talkin’ Donkey coffee house on Tuesday night.
The ReachOut show combines the band’s original music with playful, interactive information about psychosis, a serious, treatable brain condition affecting youth. Singer and keyboardist Barbara Adler (formerly of The Fugitives) has been a performer with ReachOut Psychosis since 2005.
“By providing accurate brain science information about this medical condition that most often first appears in adolescence, this program helps youth learn to spot psychosis symptoms in themselves and others and get help as soon as possible,” said Adler. “Receiving medical treatment for this condition in its earlier stages makes for a much faster and complete recovery. Early medical treatment can turn young lives around and even save lives.”
ReachOut is offered free to schools, and presents to more than 22,000 students annually. The program is developed and delivered by the B.C. Schizophrenia Society and funded by the provincial health authority.
Tuesday’s evening concert at the Talkin’ Donkey will feature material from Proud Animal’s debut, self-titled EP as well as a performance by a special guest. The show starts at 7 p.m. and admission is $5.
