A bake sale or car wash wouldn’t cut it for one man’s fundraising goal. Instead, Thor Johansen trekked 100 miles up hills and through woods to raise $12,000 for children and teens at Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Center in Naperville.
Johansen, a licensed clinical psychologist at Samaritan Interfaith, ran the Kettle Moraine 100 Endurance Run in Wisconsin in June to raise funds for the center’s Mental Health Access Program for children and teens.
The program provides fee subsidized mental health counseling services to children and adolescents who can’t afford help or do not have insurance.
Johansen started running ultramarathons, which include races longer than the regular marathon length of 26.2 miles, in 2011, but this was his first time running as a fundraiser.
“The entire time that I was running it, I would think about the people who had donated, the kids that will benefit from the program and the funds that we raised.”
Samaritan Interfaith started as a pastoral counseling center more than 50 years ago in Naperville. Since then, it has grown and now includes more than 20 licensed clinicians of psychologists, clinical social workers and licensed medical professional counselors.
The center offers more than $500,000 in fee-subsidized treatment for patients each year.
“At first, I thought are you sure you don’t have enough on your plate?” admitted Karen Sharpe, director of advancement and outreach at Samaritan Interfaith. “But, you have to admire that kind of dedication, kind of stamina, kind of perseverance that it took him.”
According to Sharpe, the funds Johansen raised were a great boost for their fee-subsidized program.
“We typically do two appeals a year, one at the end of the year and one in the spring,” Sharpe said. “When he suggested it, the timing fit in perfect to go with the spring appeal.”
Johansen specializes in anxiety related issues, but also conducts psychological testing and evaluations for the center. About 60 percent of Johansen’s caseload is working with children and teens.
“We did what we would normally do, but we focused on the children this time,” Sharpe said. “Normally we don’t target it so specifically, but we used his passion to build of what we had in place already.”
This was Johansen’s second time running the Kettle 100. He ran it almost five and a half hours faster than the first time, two years ago.
The race started at 6 a.m., and he finished at about 2 a.m. the next day.
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“When you run a race like this, it’s a lot of fun,” Johansen said. “You’re out there with other runners and it’s beautiful in Kettle Moraine State Forest. But there are some dark moments too, and feeling connected to those that have helped and raised those funds is huge.”
About 300 people signed up for the 100-mile ultramarathon, and only 164 finished the race. Johansen placed eleventh overall and finished in 19 hours and 52 minutes.
“I think the things that really got me through this race were certainly the training, but the other part was really have a sense of purpose and really having the sense that I was doing this for a good cause.”
The counseling center also has locations in Downers Grove, Geneva and Plainfield. The funds raised will go toward treatment and services at all four locations.