Ronnie Kroell will walk 921 Miles from Chicago to New York City
Ronnie Kroell and Elliot
London, Co founders of THE FRIEND MOVEMENT will walk 921 miles, Chicago
to New York
Kroell and London will walk 921 miles – over 37 days to raise awareness for increased bullying prevention efforts
across the country.
The walk, to coincide with National Bullying
Prevention Month, will begin on Saturday, Oct. 5 from The Bean in Millennium
Park in Chicago and end on Sunday, November 10 in New York City. Both men are
from Chicago, and decided to start their journey there.
London and Kroell launched the FRIEND MOVEMENT, in response to the increasing number of suicides being committed
as a result of bullying. Both men were subjected to bullying, and the
two were inspired to establish the
movement in the wake of the suicide of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University
student who jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge in New York
three years ago after being severely cyber-bullied by his dormitory roommate.
And they have filmed a documentary, “Friend” about bullying which is
currently in final stages of production.
London said, ” It is so important for me to make this
film. Our goal is to showcase the struggles of present day teens, and adults
for that matter, being bullied with the technology that we have all embraced.”
“Tyler may have been a young gay man, but bullying does
not discriminate.” said film maker London. ” It affects people
of all races, ages, religions, genders, sexualities, socio-economic backgrounds
and more,” adds London. “And the impact of bullying is
profound. It can lead to a plethora of physical and psychological problems
that can be life-long, in addition to suicide, which, by the way, is the number
one cause of death among school and college students in the U.S.”
Individuals can join FRIEND
MOVEMENT by visiting its indiegogo campaign, https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/friend-movement-walk.
For a $20 donation, participants will receive a specially made FRIEND MOVEMENT
watch, as well as a purple ribbon that can be sent back, in a postage-paid
envelope provided by the movement, to The Tyler Clementi Foundation with a
personalized dedication to a friend or family member. Each ribbon will be
placed on the site of the closing ceremony of the walk in New York City.
FRIDAY – OCTOBER 4th 6:30 CENTER ON HALSTED……
FRIDAY – OCTOBER 4th – Meet and Greet at
HAMBURGER MARYS in Andersonville