Giving Something Inner City Kids Haven’t Had For Generations:

A Future

WHAT: The mission of CAMPAIGN KINSHIP is to inspire inner city schools to create conflict resolution programs and non-violence zones so their students can co-exist with gang members in a peaceful educational environment.

GOALS:

Ø  CAMPAIGN KINSHIP’s goal is to reach out to communities to create dialogue through round table discussions and community outreach.

Ø  To reach out to alumni of urban schools across the country to raise funds for college scholarships and activities to broaden the horizons of inner city students at their alma maters.

WHEN: CAMPAIGN KINSHIP launches for Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, January 18^th and continues throughout February, Black History Month and beyond.

WHERE: High Schools, Colleges, Universities, Community Centers, Churches, Synagogues, Corporations.

WHY: This effort was born out of the documentary film HEART OF STONE released in select cities in 2009. Juveniles in crisis - from serious, violent, and chronic offenders to victims of abuse and neglect - pose a challenge to the nation. As reported in the latest National Youth Gang Survey, some 788,000 gang members and 27,000 gangs were active in more than 3,550 U.S. jurisdictions in 2007. As most gang members join between the ages of 12 and 15, prevention is a critical strategy within a comprehensive response to gangs that includes intervention, suppression and reentry. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

MORE ABOUT THE FILM:

HEART OF STONE, directed by BETH TONI KRUVANT, focuses on Jewish and African American Alumni who come together to give back to the current students at Weequahic High school.  Before 1960 Weequahic High School (WHS) in Newark, New Jersey was known as one of the top schools in America.  By 2000 it was one of the most violent schools in the 12th most dangerous city in the country. HEART OF STONE is the true story of Weequahic High School's quest to return to its former glory.

The Weequahic High School experience,as portrayed in the film, is a model for other inner city schools to follow to rejuvenate their schools by reaching into their own past.  Inner cities were once proud downtown districts with excellent education programs that graduated professionals who long ago moved to the suburbs.  HEART OF STONE shows how disparate groups can join together to give their old communities something they haven’t had for generations - a future.

Campaign Kinship: http://heartofstonethemovie.com/blog/?page_id=59

Movie Trailer: http://www.heartofstonethemovie.com/

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact Susan Senk PR & Marketing  SusanSenkPR@aol.com ~

212-876-5948