John Wellens of Lexington cares about those who suffer with mental health problems.

A Lake Murray resident, he got involved in the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) because his brother Pete has mental illness.

NAMI is a non-profit dedicated to enhancing the lives of those with mental illness and their families.

“I’ve had depression since I was a child,” his brother said.

“John has gone to NAMI meetings for the friends and family of those with a mental illness.

“He also did photography for the NAMI Walks South Carolina.”

John is paddling the Mississippi River this summer.

He left June 6 from Minnesota, the Mississippi headwaters, and expects to finish in about 6 weeks at the end of July.

John has a website, www.namipaddle.org, which outlines his adventure and provides for live tracking of his progress via satellite.

John’s donation link for donating to NAMI is https://donate.nami.org/fundraiser/2564551.

The website has a “Donate” button and a “Track Me Live” button for users of the site.