RICHMOND, Va. — More than 2,000 people attended Saturday’s 9th annual Speak Up 5K at Bird Park in Richmond.

This race is the dream and legacy of Cameron K. Gallagher, who died of undiagnosed heart disease in 2014.

Cameron’s mother, Grace Gallagher, said: “She was running a half marathon and was doing it to fight depression.

In the wake of her loss, her family founded the Cameron K. Gallagher Foundation (CKG) to fulfill her dream of raising awareness about teenage depression and anxiety.

Faced with battles with depression and anxiety, Cameron realized that other teens were also fighting the disease in silence.

“She knew the statistic that 1 in 5 teens suffers from a mental illness, but the more people she did ‘SpeakUp’ the more she realized she wasn’t alone. She knew it would help reduce the stigma attached to mental health,” wrote a CKG official.

CKG Foundation executive director Grace Gallagher said Saturday’s event was about more than just bringing people together to support each other.

“We were able to actually raise money to give students and these kids a real program,” said Grace Gallagher.

Tracy Sears

And before Cameron died, the teen was planning a 5K.

“I think the first thing is to talk about how important it is to be proactive about mental health, not passive,” Grace Gallagher explained. Just like your health, have a plan for your mental health, because it can come and go and the unexpected can happen.”

Grace Gallagher has said her daughter’s dream is to normalize conversations about mental health.

“She finally got to where she said I was Cameron Gallagher and I had depression,” recalled Grace Gallagher. We should celebrate the whole person and that’s what this is about.”

The celebration was designed to be uplifting with inspiration from Party Zone and Cameron.

“So it’s up to us to speak for her. And if you have that much love, you’ll only feel that much pain. So we decided to focus on love.” I did,” said Grace Gallagher. “I think she was like, ‘Wow.’ I think she’s laughing. I think she’s really proud that she started this.”

WTVR CBS 6 sponsored the event, which was hosted by anchors Tracy Sears and Bill Fitzgerald.

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