Live Like Sam launches Same Inside campaign for Mental Health Month

Live Like Sam used Mental Health Month to put a simple warning at the center of its new Same Inside campaign: a young person can look fine and still be carrying a heavy load. The Park City-based nonprofit launched the effort to lower the barrier to honest conversations about anxiety, depression and emotional strain, while also driving May donations with matching gifts listed at up to $100,000 on one campaign page and up to $50,000 on another.

The message is built around two lines the organization is putting in front of supporters, “We’re more alike on the inside than we show on the outside” and “We carry more than we show.” That framing fits Live Like Sam’s long-running emphasis on prevention and early intervention, not just crisis response, and it places parents, teachers, friends and neighbors inside the conversation about youth mental health in Summit County.

The campaign lands as the nonprofit says it continues to reach a large share of the local school community. Live Like Sam reported serving more than 5,000 youth in 2025 and delivering more than $500,000 in free programming. It also said all Park City K-12 schools are engaged in its work, a sign that mental health support in the county is increasingly tied to schools as much as clinics.

At the center of that work is Thrive, a free six-week virtual well-being program for students in grades 6 through 12 in Summit County and Wasatch County. Live Like Sam says it has invested more than $2 million in Thrive to date. Its impact materials say the organization has Utah Department of Health and Human Services Level 2 designation and that University of Utah institutional review board oversight has covered more than 1,800 students over four years of active research.

Live Like Sam’s own results have given the campaign added weight. In March, Park Record reported that Thrive showed more than a 25% reduction in depression and anxiety, along with gains in resilience and quality of life. That kind of outcome is part of what makes Same Inside more than a broad awareness push. It is tied to a program with local schools, research oversight and measurable reported impact.

The effort also arrives alongside other local mental-health work. In April, Summit County Mental Wellness Alliance and Summit Support launched a three-month initiative of seminars, workshops and agency open houses meant to connect residents with help and reduce stigma. Live Like Sam, founded by Ron and Skylar Jackenthal after the death of Sam Jackenthal in a skiing accident in Australia in 2015, has been part of that broader network for years. Its current campaign keeps the focus on a familiar local problem with high stakes: too many young people are still struggling in silence.