Our Mission
The Duck Cup Memorial Fund is a Non-Profit Organization formed of graduates from New Prague High School Class of 2000. In 2001, we had the extremely unfortunate experience of losing a close friend to suicide. It affected us all tremendously. Several years later, we eventually started this organization dedicated to providing resources for mental health awareness and suicide prevention. We started this journey in 2013 as a result of very generous funding through multiple fundraisers, and have since expanded from just high school students in New Prague to grades 5-12 all across Minnesota and Iowa. In 2022 we reached over 35,000 students, parents, teachers, and community members. We are dedicated to ending the stigma associated with mental health issues, and moving away from crisis-based response to prevention through education.
Stomp the Stigma Gala 2023
Board of Directors Back from left to right: President Dave Hruby, Eric Ceplecha, Vice President Bryan Connelly, Brian Jindra, and Nick Deutsch
Staff Front from left to right: Executive Administrator Angela Sticha, Executive Assistant Jess Snyder, and Executive Director Sara Jutz
What We Achieved in 2021/2022
Testimonials
“THANK YOU KELLY FOR COMING IN AND SPEAKING TO US!! I always looked forward to this all 4 years of my high school years. I related a lot to your story. Stay strong. ”
“Frankly, the number of teens with issues today are at an epidemic level and we are seeing the age of the young people who are struggling emotionally and mentally is getting younger and younger. Duck Cup, through the speakers that they have provided to TCU the past 3 years has had a positive and major impact on the teenage students and staff in the Tri-City United School District.
Thank you Duck Cup!
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“I liked that we actually took the time out of our day to go listen to a presentation that could save somebody’s life.”