Irsay, Colts to team up with hollywood stars for virtual mental health fundraiser

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — For four days this May, Colts owner and CEO Jim Irsay is quarterbacking a virtual fundraiser to change minds across America. 

This initiative centers on a subject often kept in the silence of our society: mental health disorders. 

“I think a big part of it has been we really need to raise the awareness and try and reach people in their homes and reach people at that moment that they are at that point of suffering, and they may not make it or not and maybe we get through to them,” Irsay said.

Under the leadership of Colts Vice Chair and Owner Kalen Jackson, some of the entertainment world’s most powerful voices, including Carson Daly, Rob Lowe, and Jim Gaffigan are set to combine forces with Colts’ legends.

The goal?

Create an interactive, life changing experience led by round table discussions, storytelling, and auctions with funds benefitting Indianapolis’ mental health workforce. 

“We have some incredible content, a lot of our friends have come alongside us to have these conversations and have these difficult talks,” Jackson said. “We have interviews with Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Edgerrin James, are people who have come alongside us on this journey.”

Over the past year, the Irsay family, quietly, committed four million dollars toward the expansion of mental health services inside Indianapolis. 

These four days ahead this May exemplify further proof the Irsay’s legacy in our city will go well beyond football.

“To me the Horseshoe always has to be more than just football,” Irsay said. “It has to be about the community and making the community better because I think that is the most noble endeavor you can pursue, is making the world better.

The games can wait. This initiative starts now.