In the summer of 2022, The Nord Center was approached by a community member who was passionate about three causes: suicide prevention, mental health/substance abuse recovery and veterans’ mental health/suicide. Bret Buike (pronounced like “Buick;” also known as “Buckeye Bret”) had experienced some losses of people close to him and was determined to do something that could make a difference not only in raising awareness of these causes but also in supporting them financially.

The mechanism Bret chose was a David Goggins Challenge. This is an athletic feat in which participants run 4 miles every 4 hours over a period of 48 hours. During this event, which took place August 27 through 28, Bret and other supporters also recorded themselves doing 22 push-ups throughout the challenge to raising awareness of the distressing statistic that 22 veterans die by suicide each day.

Last year was the third year of the event, staged by Bret with the support of Bob Laughton. Both organizers have lost friends and family to these diseases, most notably, Bret’s sister-in-law, Kate Holton, who died 12 years ago of an overdose. Mr. Laughton lost three long-time childhood friends.

As a result of the 2023 event, Bret was able to donate over $23,750 to The Nord Center. This amount represented half the proceeds raised from individual contributions. The other half of the proceeds benefitted Recovery Resources in Cleveland. More recently, we were delighted to welcome Bret to The Nord Center’s Board of Directors where he can continue to inspire the organization with his zeal for creative ways of fostering community awareness and support of the causes we represent and the people we serve.