SPARKLE — The Carla Gallup Foundation was founded in 2023 by Derek Gallup. Carla and Derek were married for 30 years and have two children, Christina and Tyler. Carla worked in the Fitness industry for 10 years prior to choosing to be a stay-at-home mom.
In 2020, the U.S. government shut down most positive outlets for mental health such as beaches, parks, churches and gyms. In addition, it made businesses that masked pain with new addictions — such as fast food, liquor stores, dispensaries, casino and strip clubs — essential. Carla — like many others — suffered from depression, anxiety and insomnia.
“During this time, we agreed that what happened was Carla lost her ‘SPARKLE,’” said Derek. “She fought valiantly for 2.5 years, but sadly lost her battle with mental illness in October of 2022.”
As Derek and family sought ways to deal with grief and loss, they found amazing organizations to help with suicide prevention and survivors of suicide loss. However, the family realized none of those organizations had activity, fitness and nutrition as the key pillars to help survivors and in prevention.
Because of this, Derek turned his pain into purpose with SPARKLE.
SPARKLE is an acronym for what the foundation hopes to accomplish:
Suicide
Prevention (through)
Activity
Relaxation
Kindness
Laughter and
Education
The board of SPARKLE is made of up of an experienced team of leaders who have been affected by mental illness in their families including Chris Smith, the CEO of Fitness World, and Mark Corey, the president of Arrowhead Insurance Group in San Diego, California.
SPARKLE is working to help the fitness industry create a larger impact on mental health by raising awareness and funding for mental health and survivors of suicide loss programs.
Additionally, SPARKLE will bring groups to fitness facilities and other recreational activities who will benefit from activities including exercise, relaxation, and education on helping topics such as nutrition, sleeping, meditation, therapy, community and more. SPARKLE is poised to help with improvement of mental health, prevention of suicide, and provide comfort, community and resources for survivors of suicide loss.
The first activity and education event SPARKLE is hosting will be donation-based workouts for mental health and suicide prevention in UFC GYM locations internationally and Fitness World in Vancouver, British Columbia. The event will be hosted in over 50 facilities on International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day on November 18, 2023. Those who donate will receive a SPARKLE wristband.
Every day, around the world 1,900 people die from suicide. To bring awareness and fundraising to the forefront, UFC and SPARKLE introduced the Century Club Challenge. It involves one exercise a day and challenges people to do this exercise for 100 seconds. By November 18, 2023, people will have done 1,900 seconds of exercise for suicide prevention and for their physical and mental health.
To learn more about SPARKLE and to follow along with the Century Club Challenge, follow Derek on Instagram.
