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Glee Club lifts voices for mental health

Members of Jim Thorpe Area High School's Glee Club used their collective voice to draw attention to mental health issues Monday night.

The singing group held its annual year-end benefit concert Thursday.This year's program benefits the Bo Tkach Foundation, which raises awareness of obsessive compulsive disorder and other mental illnesses in young people in our area.In the weeks leading up to the show they arranged and choreographed their own versions of top 40 songs by artists like Adele and Ariana Grande.Most of the songs were sung in small groups, but the whole Glee Club came together for some of the biggest hits of the night, including Justin Bieber's "Sorry."They also held raffle drawings throughout the night to benefit the Bo Tkach Foundation, which provides scholarships and assistance for students in our area who deal from mental health issues.Ed Hedes of the Bo Tkach Foundation spoke about how someone can hide mental health problems from the people around them until it's too late, but loved ones can still remind them that help exists."This disorder Bo had, it's the type of thing where they hide it from everybody, but you still know they need help," he said.The Glee Club also played a presentation they made regarding mental health issues. It used hard numbers to illustrate how many people are affected by it, especially young people."These are not what people choose to have, these are medical conditions, they are serious, and even though they are treatable and people do get better. In 2013 there were over 41,000 suicides," according to the presentation.

The Jim Thorpe Area High School Glee Club sang songs like Justin Bieber's "Sorry" at the annual benefit concert. Proceeds from the concert were donated to the Bo Tkach Foundation. CHRIS REBER/TIMES NEWS