New Charity Launched to Help Victims of Bullying
When Rodney Briguglio’s 18-year-old cousin, Frederick P. Drew was murdered while protecting a friend from abuse in October he knew he had to do something. That something has since become the Frederick P. Drew Memorial Fund. Its mission is to help people whose lives have been disrupted by bullying.
"His family didn’t have the money to give Fred a decent funeral," said Briguglio of Delray Beach. "His father is a disabled veteran living on disability. There’s not much extra for anything so the family got together and contributed money."
Helping meet this family need made Briguglio wonder about other bullying victims and their families who might be in similar straits.
As a gay man, he is sensitive to the prevalence of bullying against LGBT youth and adults, but recognizes the fact that bullying affects everyone, gay or straight, and sometimes they need financial help.
"Fred’s death wasn’t an anti-gay hate crime," Briguglio said. "Neither Fred nor his friend was gay. We all know you don’t have to be gay to get bullied although gay kids do get bullied more than straight kids so we expect a lot of the money we raise will help victims of anti-gay crimes."
"And it’s not just for funerals," he added. "There are all sorts of costs that people incur when they’re bullied."
His website, FredDrewFund.org, notes that the foundation, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit, also offers financial aid for counseling, therapy, medical care, and legal costs. The new charity is also committed to creating awareness about bullying through lectures, workshops, printed and online materials.
Briguglio hopes to do more than just help repair the damage done by bullies. He wants to help end the bullying by educating adults and youth. Currently the fund is selling a Bullying Jar from The Talking Jar program to help people get started talking about some of the more difficult issues faced individually and communally.
"If you use the questions in the jar you can really get a conversation going," Briguglio said. "It gives everybody a chance to learn. Bullies, people who are bullies, parents, kids, everyone can benefit."
He continued: "We’ll have other things for sale on the website, too. But we really thought this bullying jar would be a great start and we’re already seeing some traffic."
While Fred Drew’s death took place in Citrus County, which is near Ocala, and Briguglio lives and works in Palm Beach County, the victims don’t have to be Floridians to apply for help. Briguglio and his board will entertain requests from anywhere in the world.
"Unfortunately," Briguglio said. "Bullying is a world wide problem and people everywhere suffer from it. We hope to be able to raise a lot of money to help a lot of people. Helping people heal from trauma takes time and lots of expensive expertise."
Briguglio is planning a huge fundraiser concert for March 16 at Old School Square Entertainment Pavilion on North Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The program headliner is American Idol Finalist Brett Loewenstern from Boca Raton. Rapper JoDrew, Fred’s brother, will also be a featured artist with more to come.
"I hope to raise $100,000 at this event," said Briguglio, who, after eight years as a director of catering with Ritz Carlton hotels and a successful owner of Mara, an off-premises and rentable venue catering company, has the chops to pull it off.
"We got a $5,000 start with a fundraiser in conjunction with Art Basel in Miami Beach," he added. It was hosted by local philanthropists Johnnie Cope, Marcos Urias and artist Henrique Souza. A lot of people want to help and we’re happy to have them join us."
According to the website Fredrick was an active young man who loved football and was also a wrestler and weightlifter. He was offered a scholarship to a college in Pennsylvania for wrestling but was still up in the air about his future. He was also considering joining the Navy and becoming a Navy Seal.
Visit FredDrewFund.org for more information.
