PLAINVILLE — A patch created by the Plainville Police Department to raise awareness about youth mental health has swiftly sold out and will be back in stock soon.
The patch was created in memory of Nolan Derosier, a seventh-grader at the Middle School of Plainville who lost his battle with mental health on Feb. 12 of 2023. All proceeds will be donated to local mental health agencies to help juveniles and their families in need.
After seeing a recent news story about the patches the Plainville Police Department makes for various charities and organizations, Derosier’s mother, Kelly Derosier, contacted Officer Shane Dufresne, the school resource officer at The Middle School of Plainville.
“They collaborated and created a patch to bring attention to juvenile mental health issues,” police said.
100 patches sold within the first three days of the sale and 100 more are now on order. Dufresne said he was “absolutely amazed” by how quickly they sold. The Youth Services director, he said, was also “flabbergasted.” He has been creating other patches with the company Ghost Patch, from Salem, Mass. for causes including domestic violence awareness, autism, the Special Olympics and Alzheimer’s awareness as well as Halloween and Christmas patches. Ghost Patch now also produces the patches worn on the Plainville Police Department uniforms.
“They don’t always sell out and those that do usually take six or seven months,” he said.
Kelly Derosier said she has “no words” for how she feels about the way the Plainville Community stepped up to support the mental health awareness patch in her son’s memory.
“The most important thing for me is to get resources into town to help middle school kids,” she said.
The proceeds will be given to Plainville Youth Services and will remain in town, she said.
Dufresne said Nolan was “such a good kid.” He said his goal as a school resource officer was to build a relationship with students who are struggling. He said Nolan could sometimes be hard to reach and kept his feelings inside. However, he was able to reach him with shared interests such as fishing and football.
“He was a good kid with a big heart,” Derosier said. “He was very mischievous but in the end he always did the right thing. He liked cooking, fishing, music, football and annoying his sisters.”
Dufresne said his advice for parents whose children are struggling with mental health is that they have to get past the stigma.
“I’m not saying that this is what happened here, but in general, a lot of people need to put aside their pride and ego and realize that if their child is struggling they should reach out for help,” he said. “The longer they wait, the harder it can be to fix and the sooner they get help the better.”
Derosier said one of Nolan’s classmates created a poster that is on display at the Middle School of Plainville. It reads “It’s ok to not be ok.”
The patches cost $10 each and will be available at the Plainville Police Department at 19 Neal Court 24/7.
