Canada Post has issued a new stamp to coincide with Mental Illness Awareness Week this week.

The Mental Health stamp was designed by Paul Haslip and uses a photograph by Nigel Dickson.

Ten million of the stamps will be sold to raise money for the new Canada Post Foundation for Mental Health, which will help support front-line organizations serving patients, consumers and caregivers.

It will also focus on promoting education, awareness and health and social policies relating to mental-health issues.

With $1 from the sale of each fundraising stamp book going to the foundation, it is expected the campaign will raise $1 million this year, which couldn’t make local Mental Health Association executive director Doug Sage any happier.

“Mental-health issues are not just something that health authorities and non-profit agencies are involved with,” he said, noting the stamp will bring mainstream recognition to illnesses that are often pushed under the rug.

“It’s not something that people need to be so secretive about anymore,” Sage said, adding 20 per cent of people on any given block in Kamloops have a mental-health issue.

Sage is also happy with the design of the stamp, which shows a happy woman with the sun shining on her face.

He said it signifies a brighter future for people who suffer from mental illnesses and that it is an empowering image.

And as far as the funds raised from the sales of the stamps, Sage said every citizen in Canada will benefit “if we’re able to move forward and find new ways to think about and treat mental illness.”

Supported by Canada Post staff across the country, Kamloops processing plant superintendent Rob Klarich is hopeful the campaign will reach its fundraising goals this year.

“There’s strength in our numbers,” he said.