In just two years, Steve Cooper has turned personal struggle into a journey of public advocacy;
building golf-inspired campaigns that have raised thousands of dollars, brought in support
across North America, and sparked vital conversations around men’s mental health.
From marathon walks to 100-hole challenges, from cross-border awareness tours to a podcast
featuring some of Ottawa’s best-known voices, Cooper has steadily positioned himself as an
advocate for men who might otherwise remain silent.
“I have always dealt with anxiety and depression,” Cooper explains. “Between 2019 and 2022 it
got really bad for me and I was really struggling. At the end of 2022 I took some major steps and
started working on finding answers and getting professional help.”
Those steps towards improving his mental health ultimately led him back to physical activity and
into a deeper relationship with the game he loved. “One of the things that I truly felt helped me
was physical fitness and getting re-engaged in the game of golf,” he says. But it was in speaking
openly about his mental health struggles that shifted everything for Cooper. “It became evidently
clear that I was not alone, but men just did not talk about it. Unless you talked about it first.”
Steve Cooper’s 42 km ‘OK Walk’ raised nearly $2,000 for men’s mental health
In September 2023, Cooper decided to put action behind his words. He walked from Orléans to
Kanata, the exact distance of a marathon, with his golf push cart in tow. “It took about 8 1⁄2
hours. I finished at The Marshes and then played a round of golf with some friends,” he recalls.
The effort, called The OK Walk, raised nearly $2,000 for the Canadian Mental Health
Association and laid the groundwork for what would follow.
By the next summer, Cooper’s ambitions of continuing the mental health conversation had
grown. In June 2024, starting at sunrise with his trusty push cart in tow, he played 100 holes in a
single day at Pakenham Golf Course. Later in the day, he was joined by 60 friends and family
for a tournament that raised close to $5,000.
The original plan was to create awareness for CMHA, but another urgent cause came to the forefront. Cooper learned that his close friend Adam Côté’s young son Nash had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer requiring
treatment in Boston, and the cause shifted overnight. The Dash Fore Nash was born, and funds
were raised to help the family offset their expenses.
With the support of local media company Capital Content, Cooper expanded his efforts into a
larger platform: the It’s OK Foundation.
“Mental health, for men especially, is a very heavy subject. I thought if I did some fun things to bring attention to the topic, it might make it easier for people to talk about it before reaching a crisis point,” he says. Through the Foundation,
campaigns have reached thousands online, and Cooper was invited to speak at a major Ottawa
tech company about the importance of mental health in the workplace.
Steve Cooper on course for the 18-state, 18-day marathon
Then came the biggest project yet. In November 2024, Cooper and his wife embarked on “18
Holes in 18 States in 18 Days,” a marathon-style road trip through the U.S. Travelling in a rented
Karma camper van wrapped in custom graphics, they played one hole in a new state each day,
filming the journey and raising awareness and funds for Movember. Along the way, they had
candid conversations with locals and built a following online. The highlight came when the PGA
Tour invited them to TPC Sawgrass, where Cooper played one of the sport’s most iconic holes.
“We got enough footage for numerous posts along the way as people followed our journey, and
had some incredible ‘real’ conversations with people,” he says. It was amazing how openly
strangers would share their own personal experiences once they heard about the cause.
That same drive to create dialogue now fuels the It’s OK Podcast, which Cooper produces with
Capital Content. “Our latest episode was with Brent Wallace and it is something I am really
proud of,” he says. The podcast has become an important outlet for honest, approachable
conversations about men’s mental health; extending his message beyond individual speaking
engagements and events into everyday life. More importantly, the podcast is reaching people
who might otherwise not openly engage in mental health discussions.
The “It’s OK” podcast in action with Capital Content
Today, Cooper is looking to the future, for both podcast guests and fundraising. His focus is on
September’s Charity Golf Tournament, where funds will support both the OSEG Foundation and
the It’s OK Foundation. “It’s OK has been entirely self-funded to this point,” he says, “so this
tournament will play an important role in allowing us to keep the conversations going.”
