Darcy Hager-Slavin, founder of the Slavin Memorial Fund, will be the featured speaker at this month’s Youth Service Bureau gala in Lake Elmo.
The gala will be from 5:30 to 9 p.m. May 10 at the Royal Golf Club.
The Woodbury woman was married to Joe Slavin, who was principal of Skyview Middle School in Oakdale and a South Washington County Schools board member. Slavin, 45, died by suicide in June 2017. Hager-Slavin has partnered with the Youth Service Bureau to raise awareness about mental-health issues.
“She’s become very passionate about getting more people to openly discuss mental health and letting it be known that it’s ‘OK to not be OK,'” said Paul DeGeest, director of development and communications for the YSB. “Mental illness has no boundaries and does not discriminate.”
Sydney Isaacson, 18, a 2018 graduate of the Alternative Learning Center in Stillwater, also will speak.
Youth Services Bureau was formed in 1976 to keep Washington County children and teens out of the court system. Officials hope to raise $116,000; the event raised $98,000 last year.
Tickets are $75 and include a multi-course dinner, live auction, live music and games. The event is open to the public; reservations are required. Tickets can be purchased at ysb.net/gala.