Our biggest collab ever: The Colts + AFSP Indiana

It is my utmost pleasure and wildest dream to announce one of the biggest collabs ever for the Indianapolis Coffee Guide: our collaboration with The Indianapolis Colts Kicking the Stigma Foundation and the Indiana chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).

As you all know, every May for Mental Health Awareness Month and September for Suicide Prevention Month, our friends at AFSP Indiana distribute free coffee cup sleeves to local coffee shops in Indianapolis and the surrounding areas. My good friend Brandon Puszkiewicz, the programs manager for AFSP Indiana, came up with this idea back in early 2023, so naturally I jumped at the opportunity to help connect him to all the right people to make this happen. Now in year 2 of the project, somehow we’re working with The COLTS???

Kicking The Stigma with the Indianapolis Colts

Kicking The Stigma launched in 2020 by the Colts to raise awareness around mental health and to help tackle the stigma and feelings of shame associated with mental health. They’ve committed on $30 million to mental health awareness, organizations, and research in just a few short years. They just launched their first website, which has so much amazing information about their foundation: kickingthestigma.org

I was born here in Indy, and I’ve been a Colts fan my entire life. I’ve also been very open about my own mental health journey. When they reached out to me earlier this year to connect about being involved with the coffee cup sleeve initiative, it was an absolute no brainer. (When you get an email from The Colts, you answer it.)

The Collab of a Lifetime

Starting in May, we collaborated with Kicking The Stigma and AFSP Indiana for two amazing coffee cup sleeve designs—one designed by The Colts and the other by yours truly!

We put a call out earlier this summer for coffee shops across Indiana, and I’m beyond thrilled to announce that AFSP Indiana and Kicking The Stigma provided 75,000 free coffee cup sleeves to over 60 coffee shops across the entire state of Indiana! Expect the sleeves to be keeping your coffee warm throughout September and October.

To check out the full list of coffee shops where you can find these awesome sleeves, head on over to Kicking The Stigma.

Why this is so important to me

Over the years, I have not been shy about sharing snippets of my own mental health journey. It is something I have struggled with my entire life. Having conversations about our mental health and empowering others to do the same are incredibly important messages for me. For so long I struggled by myself, lost in the dark and hopelessly behind closed doors. The support of those around me and the hard conversations we’ve had have saved my life.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention provides invaluable resources to folks who struggle with thoughts of suicide, for folks who know people who may be struggling, and anyone who has been affected by suicide. The crucial work they do empowers all of us to have better conversations about mental health because they believe everyone deserves to be brought out of the darkness.

Kicking The Stigma is another amazing resource as they empower and uplift all kinds of mental health organizations through their foundation. They believe in the power of having real conversations about mental health and how those real convos save lives.

Being able to work with such amazing organizations (and just the best human beings) on a project that is so personal to me has been a dream come true. To be part of something so tangible that is spreading across Indiana and empowering others to kick these stigmas and to have real conversations is just… I don’t know. I’ve caught myself so many times over the last six months stopping and sitting back to marvel at how impactful this project has been on me and so many others. Beyond my wildest dreams.