CINCINNATI —

Mason teacher and Sycamore School District coach John Benham is running 50 miles in one day, but it's for a good cause.

With the month of May being Mental Health Awareness month, Benham is raising awareness and help break down stigmas surrounding mental health by running.

On Saturday, Bigger Than The Trail, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, is hosting an in-person and virtual race to help raise funds for mental health counseling.

Benham has decided to run 50 miles and is asking for donations and pledges to help reach his goal of $5,000. All of the proceeds will directly supply mental health counseling for those in need.

If he can reach his goal, Bigger Than The Trail will be able to offer a full year of counseling for 2 to 3 people. Benham says the counseling is $180 a month and approximately $4,300 to $6,500 is needed to achieve this. The counseling can also be split between multiple individuals in need.

Benham will be running back and forth on Mason-Montgomery Road until he reaches his goal of 50 miles (10 times back and forth on a 5 mile route).

Benham says he's named this event 'R250' because it signifies his run to 50 as well as his 50th birthday, as Saturday is his birthday!

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If you would like to donate to help Benham reach his goal, you can do so here.

It's National Leukemia Awareness Month, a disease that kills nearly 24,000 Americans every year. One Missouri man is beating the disease with a bit of help from his family.

"My daughter literally saved my life," survivor Jim Allin said.

It's a story that tells itself.

“To know my daughter is the one that did that, it's a pretty special thing," Allin said.

Allin was on vacation in Miami when he got sick, went to a hospital, and was told he had an advanced form of leukemia.

"We have no family history," Allin said.

With few options, his family flew back to Kansas City to keep his business going. Allin was forced to stay in Miami and desperately search for a bone marrow donor.

Jim spent 33 days in a Miami hospital, then returned to Kansas City with a list of six possible donors that got narrowed to just one, his daughter.

"It’s tough because you clearly don't want your daughter to bear any burden if something doesn't go well," Allin said.

A 96% match, his 11-year-old daughter Harper Allin was all in. She wanted to save her dad’s life. He’s grateful she dove in headfirst to help him.

"It was scary for her, and she admitted that. She said, ‘You know, dad, if I had to do it again for somebody else, I would,’" Allin said.

Jim has now been in remission for 18 months.

"She knows what she did, and she should be very proud of that for the rest of her life," Allin said.

Watch the video above for the full story.

Two Michigan brothers are rising stars on TikTok and Instagram.

They are hoping their nearly 700,000 followers are learning an important lesson along the way.

Max might look like your average guy. But, he has what his brother Jake likes to call a superpower — autism — and it leads to other powers.

“July 24, 1993. What day of the week was that?” Jake asked Max.

“Saturday,” Max answered without hesitation.

“Saturday. And Max, when was Ford Field built? Jake asked again, referring to the NFl stadium their favorite football team plays at.

“2002,” Max shot back.

“So Max has a bunch of different skills because he’s a prodigious savant,” Jake said.

Max only uses his superpower for good, including for TikTok.

“We’re really using this as a platform to spread awareness and really share our love and share our story,” Jake added. “And show families and people all over the world that people with autism really have value.”

Watch the video above for more on this story.

Editor's note: Psychologist John Duffy, author of "Parenting the New Teen in the Age of Anxiety," practices in Chicago. He specializes in work with teens, parents, couples and families.

On this World Mental Health Day, the second of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that people -- most people -- are struggling.

Across cultures, we were experiencing plenty of mental health issues well before the pandemic, including -- but not limited to -- undue stress and anxiety, poor self-esteem, eating issues, and family strife. All of these challenges have been exacerbated over the course of the past 18 months.

I encourage you to take honest stock of your own emotional well-being today. Are you taking care of yourself? Are you suffering unnecessarily? Are you priding yourself on being busy, when you are in fact exhausted? Are you hiding depression or anxiety to protect the people around you?

The following are six steps you can take today to enhance your mental wellness, and that of those around you.

Begin a daily wellness regimen

Taking care of yourself emotionally starts first thing in the day -- preferably before your feet hit the floor. In lieu of checking social media or starting work, draw in a few deep breaths, and consider three things you find yourself grateful for. These can be grand, like your spouse, job or health, or modest, like the weather, the view from your window, or even the luxury of those first breaths.

Then, if you haven't already, try a brief guided mediation like one of these CNN picks or the Calm or Headspace app. Read a comforting excerpt from a favorite self-help or other relaxing book. By doing so, you will create a calm, relaxed mindset for the day. Even stressful days packed with activity will feel more manageable and tranquil if you do so, and you will find yourself catastrophizing far less over the course of the day.

Remember, a lot of the things that enhance physical health also support emotional well-being. Evaluate what you put in your body and your mind: food, drink, drugs, a constant stream of video programming, and so on. Thinking about how you might manage your intake to make your body healthier will undoubtedly have mental health benefits as well.

I cannot express enough how these early-in-the-day actions can impact your mindset of peace, well-being and gratitude for the rest of your day.

Starter tip: Don't think you'll remember first thing in the morning? Write it on a sticky note, and place it over your phone before you go to bed.

Get outside your own mind every day

When we are anxious or depressed, our symptoms tend to occupy our minds. We scan for severity or for new mental difficulties, and the more we scan, the more we tend to find. Further, our depression, anxieties and other emotional concerns tend to amplify when they remain our sole focus. If we get out and attend to serving others, we find that our own worries diminish.

We also feel better when we serve others, coming away with a sense of satisfaction, accomplishment and contribution -- a win-win for mental health. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or your child's school. Work a phone helpline for others struggling with emotional difficulties.

Remove the unnecessary

Over the past couple of years, there has been no doubt that we are too busy and protect precious little time to relax and do virtually nothing. Today presents a wonderful opportunity to consider what we can take away from our daily lives that might enhance our peace of mind and support our emotional wellness.

This is a day to remove the misguided pride in the word "busy," and focus not on all we can do, but on what really needs to be done -- and what does not. In fact, the pandemic has presented a unique opportunity to do so. Many of my clients have found, in their new work-from-home worlds, that in past years, much of their time has been spent on unnecessary activity, from busy work to social media scrolling.

Others find these activities prevent them from getting a full night's sleep or connecting with family, which are crucial elements of emotional wellness. Removing some of this activity can help us protect time for some of these other endeavors that foster well-being and growth.

Assess your relationships

Assess how each of your relationships is working for you. Are you giving more than you're receiving from a sibling or friend? Do you feel hopeful and refueled after a coffee date with an acquaintance? Many of us spend far too much time and energy on relationships that are either toxic or one-sided, and that can include social media connections.

You may also recognize that you do not reach out and connect enough to others. Slowing down to connect more deeply and share your life and story with your close family or friends is among the most important ways you can strengthen your mental wellness.

Check-in with your people

World Mental Health Day can be a welcome excuse to reset for improved self-care. But it also presents an opportunity to check in on the mental health of the people around you: your family, friends, neighbors and anyone else in your orbit. Some people you feel you are very close to maybe suffering but are adept at hiding it.

Check-in with all the people you love, and just ask them how they are doing and feeling. For some, this may prompt them to assess their own mental well-being, knowing there is someone in their life who cares enough to ask.

Be willing to change and learn

Many of my clients have stubbornly asserted that they know what's best for themselves, and too often continue bad habits even as they come to me for help.

Treat yourself to an hour a week of self-focus and self-care, whether it's through therapy or other practices. You will learn a lot about how your mind works, and how to remove roadblocks to wellness you may have been clinging to for years.

In doing so, you are not only tending to your own emotional well-being but normalizing mental difficulties so that others may be more inclined to do the same. I cannot think of a more impactful way to contribute to our world's collective wellness on a day dedicated to mental health.

A South Carolina animal shelter hosted a canine wedding Thursday to support donations for the new Have a Heart Heartworm Treatment Fund and raise awareness to adopt shelter dogs.

Greenville County Animal Care in South Carolina hosted a livestream of the ceremony for Sassy and Spero.

Click the video player above to watch the full ceremony.

The event was planned by Wedding Festivals and Upstate Bridal Association, according to the shelter.

Sassy and Spero have been together since Sassy started her heartworm treatment, according to the shelter.

"Every heartworm positive dog will have their treatment covered in full, making it easier than ever to adopt a heartworm positive dog," the shelter posted on Facebook.

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This tradition of doggy weddings has gone on for multiple years, with last year's couple being Honey and Duke.

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Sam Cary started as a freshman in one of the biggest games in Iowa women’s soccer history.

“I put a lot of that pressure on myself of I need to do this because this is the position I’m in. So that all really started building in my head, and imposter syndrome, do I really belong here? Is it really, am I really the best choice filling the role on the team? A lot of self-doubt and questioning that I really had to rumble through,” said Cary.

She was the only freshman in a playoff game starting alongside 14 seniors in the Hawkeye women’s winningest season.

“I remember the NCAA game that year. I was like, oh my gosh, if I make a mistake and we lose, I’m the reason, I’m ending these senior’s careers,” she said.

That immense pressure only increases as you progress in a sport. Olympic athletes on the world’s biggest stage are no exception.

“The elite athletes, and some at the very tip-top, have different pressures than other athletes, so it’s just when you start to add up all of the risk factors or all of the different pressures, any human can only take so much. So I think it just understands what that is, that is very different for every athlete, and every person,” said Jessica Bartley is the Director of Mental Health for the US Olympic Committee.

She has been tasked with strengthening the organizations' mental health program.

That includes a hotline, adding mental health staff, expanding education for athletes, and having on-site therapists and counselors for athletes.

“On average, we get about eight calls a week to our team USA mental health support line. We also have athletes reaching out directly. We have coaches reaching out on behalf of athletes,” said Bartley.

The mental health of athletes took center stage over the summer as female superstars Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles have notably withdrawn from competition to focus on their mental health.

People on the inside say taking a step back is an efficient way to fight the stigma associated with mental health.

"Breaking down the stigma is starting to just openly reach out for help and openly talk about what’s going on,” said Bartley.

“The fact that an Olympian, someone that people realize as the greatest of all time, can put their mental health first and really just believe that that was the best decision for her is really inspiring,” said Cary.

She hopes that by speaking openly about her journey, she can be an inspiration too.

“I love that my teammates know that I go and I work with a sports psychologist, and that’s great for me, and it’s helped me so much. I feel like if I’m an incoming freshman and I hear a junior now about, oh yeah, I use the sports psych, maybe freshmen may not be as concerned and be like, oh, it’s normal."