The third annual Mental Health Awareness March is returning to Port Washington to bring the community together in support for mental health and substance misuse awareness for their family, friends and neighbors.

The walk scheduled for Saturday is to raise awareness about mental health, wellness and substance misuse, which organizer Jeffrey Stone called an example of “community helping community.”

“Mental illness is an equal opportunity destroyer of lives,” Stone said “We all have to be part of this. This is a community and we have to have community helping community.”

The march is hosted by local nonprofit Project Help Long Island in partnership with the Kiwanis Club of Manhasset-Port Washington. The march is also in collaboration with the Schreiber High School Key Club, which is the high school chapter for Kiwanis.

“It’s very important that we work with the schools as well because they are a big part of our community,” Stone said. “We try to help not just seniors and parents, but also students that are having a hard time with everything that going on from covid and on and social media.”

Project Help Long Island is a nonprofit organization co-founded by Stone that provides resources and education on mental health and substance misuse.

“We hope to point people that need help, more information to the right resource,” Stone said.

He said the two issues of mental health and substance misuse can go hand-in-hand many times, bringing their mission together.

One way in which Project Help works towards its mission is through the annual mental health walks.

Stone said the purpose of the walk is to bring the community together to rally for these issues.

“So everybody is working together towards a common issue here, and that’s the mental health and wellness within our communities,” Stone said.

The march will begin at the Port Washington Long Island Rail Road station at 10 a.m. Saturday and follow down Main Street until it ends at Sunset Park. The event will continue until 1 p.m. with speakers, performances and activities proceeding the march. Included will be live music from the band Porch Light.

Stone encouraged everyone in the community to join the march in order to show support for their fellow neighbors and community members.

“We want to make everybody an advocate, everybody aware,” Stone said. “Everybody has the ability to help someone even if it’s just saying hello… No one’s alone here. No one should be alone.”