Another New Year and another birthday celebration missed. A candle blown out too soon.
Hog, who also goes by the stage name Usually Trespassing, lost his brother Marcel L’Abbée in 2017 to the fentanyl crisis in Canada. To celebrate his brother’s memory on what would have been his birthday, Hog organized a fitting tribute: The Mental Health and Addiction Benefit Show at Roberts Creek Legion, held on Jan. 10, 2025.
Four bands hit the stage. Nearly 100 people attended. Fifty naloxone kits were distributed, along with 24 trainings on how to use the life-saving intervention drug. Overall, $2,180 was raised. Indeed, the impact of Hog’s work is already rippling through this community.
With his own giant cheque in hand, Hog met with Sechelt Hospital Foundation staff, Michelle Stanton, director, Coastal Community of Care, and Monika Stein and Leanne Komm, co-managers of the Mental Health and Substance Use departments at Sechelt | shíshálh Hospital to deliver his gift in memory of Marcel.
His wish? “I want to see this go towards treatment and services in mental health and addiction,” said Hog. “I want this to directly help people. I also want to organize more tribute shows, maybe every year in his memory.”
“I am inspired by Hog’s determination to turn his personal loss into our community’s gain,” said Jane Macdonald, executive director at Sechelt Hospital Foundation. “We hope that this act of bravery and compassion inspires other community members to turn their own philanthropic goals into action.”
The Mental Health and Substance Use team at Sechelt | shíshálh Hospital currently has several services and options for adults looking for mental health or addictions support including short-term counselling (eight to 10 sessions), group therapy, a walk-in counselling service, and more: vch.ca/en/location-service/adult-short-term-counselling-sunshine-coast
If you or anyone you know is in crisis, go to the closest hospital emergency department or call 9-8-8 (Suicide Help line), 1-866-661-3311 (Crisis Help line), or dial 9-1-1 for police, fire or ambulance.
