School is beginning again, which can be stressful for students as well as parents. Next month is Suicide Prevention Month, a time to raise awareness about the importance of being mentally healthy. This is the perfect time to remind ourselves to take care of our own mental health – and learn ways to do it. This can be accomplished by attending the annual Community Mental Wellness Fair, an event for all ages.

The fair, sponsored by Hope4Orem with support from the Rotary Club of Orem-Lindon, will be held on Aug. 22 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Orem City Library Hall, 58 N. State St. The event is free.

Taryn Hiatt, a longtime suicide prevention advocate, will be the keynote speaker, with her address beginning at 6:30 p.m. Additionally, there will be no-cost mental health assessments available as well as more than 20 mental wellness providers on hand. These will include United Way, Wasatch Behavioral Health, Hope4Utah, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Centro Hispano.

The fair will feature live entertainment, with the musical group The Miners Bluegrass Band performing. Special visitors will include Brigham Young University’s Cosmo, Utah Valley University’s Willie the Wolverine and Orem City’s Mero. Also, Ana and Elsa from “Frozen” will be in attendance.

An important part of being mentally healthy is taking the time to have fun in life. At the event, there will be plenty of ways to have fun, including face painting, balloon art, games and swag.

“Hope4Orem sponsors the annual mental wellness fair to bring our community together, connect individuals and families with resources that they may have been searching for but didn’t know where to find them, and, hopefully, normalize the first steps of hard conversations that will lead to healing,” said Cathy Ambrose, Hope4Orem executive director. “We also wanted to see if we could make mental wellness fun by bringing in some elements of a carnival, like face painting, balloon art, mascots and princesses.”

Hope4Orem is a nonprofit organization with the primary goal of establishing Hope Squads or other suicide prevention programs in every school in the city of Orem. In addition to helping schools connect with resources and trainings, the organization hosts the annual mental wellness event every year. For more information about Hope4Orem, visit hope4orem.org.

While many of us take care of our physical health, we sometimes forget that being physically healthy includes being mentally healthy. Taking time to practice daily self-care, reaching out for help if we’re struggling and learning more about ways to stay mentally fit can help.