WIA’s golf tournament takes swing September 10 at Big Sky Resort Golf Course
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Before the aspens turn and Big Sky settles into a quiet before winter’s rush, Wellness in Action is celebrating over 20 years of showing up for the people who live and work here. This year, that milestone comes with a bold change to a Fall tradition.
For years, WIA’s annual golf fundraiser was known as Par the Peaks. This year Par the Peaks has rebranded as Buck the Stigma Charitable Golf Tournament, a campaign with a sharper focus on WIA’s mission, explained Dana Wikan, president of the WIA board of directors: normalizing mental health struggles and making sure no one in Big Sky faces them alone.
“This isn’t just a new name for a fundraiser. It’s a long‑term commitment to changing how our community talks about and accesses mental health care,” Wikan said. “When people show up for this event, they’re helping us support the community every single day.”
This year’s tournament takes place on Thursday, Sept. 10, just one day before the 25th anniversary of 9/11. The event timing is intentional, honoring first responders, post-9/11 veterans, and active military personnel, whose service so often comes with an invisible toll on mental health.
Big Sky Bravery, an organization dedicated entirely to the mental wellness of the veterans and service members, will join as a special guest for the tournament, offering a Hero Sponsorship, with the goal of increasing awareness of the unique experiences of our veterans and first responders and encourage open conversations so people get the support they need.
“Big Sky Bravery exists to give active-duty Special Operations Forces a place to decompress from the weight of continuous deployment, but that work doesn’t stop when our recipients head home,” said Neil Harris, BSB’s CFO. “WIA is doing important work for the community that surrounds and supports our mission, year-round. Although our organizations serve different recipients, both BSB and WIA provide support and community to those who need it most, and supporting them is one of the clearest ways we can show up as a good neighbor.”
Harris also noted that with the BSB Ranch, the organization’s home base currently under construction in Big Sky, they will soon be a neighbor to the community WIA serves.
“Partnering with an organization like WIA, whose entire mission is normalizing that conversation and making care accessible, reinforces the core belief behind everything we do: the earlier someone gets support, the better the outcome,” added Harris.
Several participants have stepped up to purchase Heroes sponsorships, including Shelly Bermont and Blue Moon Bakery, covering all or part of the cost of a team so local hospital personnel, ski patrol and members of the Big Sky Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office may play as guests of the tournament.
WIA is also using this year’s tournament to extend its mission beyond the golf course. A number of local businesses like Yeti Dogs have secured sponsorships on a sliding scale fee structure, a deliberate mirror of the sliding scale WIA already uses to keep counseling services affordable and accessible. The goal is to provide businesses of all sizes with the opportunity to support WIA’s work in the community.
On a day-to-day basis, WIA exists to meet those challenges head-on, year-round, offering low-cost counseling in-person, via telehealth, or in Spanish; specialized counseling for ski patrol, first responders, and educators; two Community Health Workers who provide individualized care and referrals at no cost; suicide prevention trainings; and youth scholarships that keep the cost of living from becoming a barrier to a child’s wellbeing.
“Mental health challenges touch every corner of our community, and the demand for support and utilization of resources continues to increase,” said says Kiernan Volden, executive director of WIA. “As WIA’s counseling platform has expanded, we’ve seen counseling hours grow by 228% from 2020 to 2025 and counseling clients served by 199%. The tournament support makes it possible for us to offer counseling subsidies, care coordination, and outreach and prevention programming that directly touch the lives of individuals and families in Big Sky.”
There are still opportunities to sponsor a group or get involved with Buck the Stigma Charitable Golf Tournament—those interested can learn more on their website.
“Every contribution helps ensure we can continue providing services that increase access to mental health support and improve community wellbeing,” Volden said.
