Butterfly Festival: Over 500 butterflies released Friday!

 

On Friday, May 21, at 1 p.m., there’s something you and the kids will love to see: the release of over 500 large butterflies!

Wings of Hope is a FREE family-friendly festival from noon to 2 p.m. with activities for adults and children of all ages. The butterflies will be set free this year during a ceremony at 1 p.m. with special guest First Lady Ginger Beebe. The third annual festival will be on the Ozark Guidance Main Campus, 2400 S 48th Street, Springdale, AR

Release butterflies can be purchased for $10 each at the event Friday. Purchases can be made In Honor Of or In Memory Of someone special, or you may sponsor a butterfly for a child or client to release in your absence. Proceeds from the event will go toward counseling services for children.

The festival will  be hosted by the Ozark Guidance Auxiliary in celebration of Mental Health Month.  

The butterfly release ceremony at 1 p.m. is designed to honor thousands of residents  living in Northwest Arkansas who have experienced a mental illness. Every year 1 in 4 adults or 25% of NWA residents will have need for a mental health intervention and 20% of our children will need mental health care. Ozark Guidance has selected the butterfly as a symbol of the journey of the mind from mental illness, to wellness and hope for the future.

According to Tom Petrizzo, Ozark Guidance CEO, “We can learn an important lesson from the butterfly; if we don’t have struggles and challenges in our life, we can’t grow strong and  capable in meeting the demands of daily living. The metamorphosis of a butterfly symbolizes our ability to mentally change and transform our lives.”

The Wings of Hope Festival is designed to bring awareness to mental health issues and to break down the stigma associated with mental illness. Petrizzo noted that mental illness is a common medical disease which effects more people than cancer, heart disease or diabetes and is the root cause for many childhood disorders.