SAFE Event 2024 - Full Coverage

Jimmy I don't know what you do you and your wife every year but I've been coming here to your home you and Rishi for Charlie how many years now seven is it right six oh six out of seven thank you I've been coming here as many years as you've invited me to help to make this event on behalf of the safe organization and one of the things that's been consistent and I'm not sure why is behind us you get and that's why I was a little bit feisty people want to leave want to play tennis they want to play golf They want to do what they want to do but we filled up the house because it's safe because it means so much to everybody that's here and everybody that is already pledged and given money to save so first I want to say to you Mr President you're doing a job on behalf of safe I know because I watch multiple organizations in our community and I'm watching what you're doing and I think that you're the most incredible person for organizing managing and watching safe and what you're going to talk about this morning plus the building next door it's a lot of work everybody you need to know that Jimmy had is committed with all of his heart as you've seen these years unfortunately unfortunately and I'll get to you unfortunately what you're going to hear this morning is that safe is growing we want Magan David and Flatbush and yde and we want them to grow we don't want safe to grow we don't want P to grow we don't want give more food and Social Services to people it means they're hurting means they have problems and there is no question from the sidelines that I've interacted on many situations and the first name that has come up in the cases that I've dealt with is safe my son is at safe my daughter was at safe my husband is at safe safe and uh you're doing an incredible job with all of these wonderful therapists and people and I told you the other day when we spoke at Charlie's backyard that I wanted to see I speak for the community not for me not for me the schools get a double down I want you to do more work I want you to put more people every month it's never enough that you can do in our schools and institutions in the high schools the gambling problem in the community that you oversee has become an epidemic it's an epidemic these kids think because they get $200 they got free money well they got pulled in they got rope aop they got three card moned that's what they got they got tricked but they don't know that when they get to $200 so it's only one of the many things that safe is doing doing multiple multiple things before I call you up Mr President I want to say also to Charlie I've spoken with you over the course of the year a hundred times names are never mentioned on your end but if I know on my end they're mentioned and then we talk because we want to have a mutual care for the family that's involved and uh people don't think I work I don't I don't think you work anymore I don't and I told you that last Friday too in business well that's because you get the money which you deserve you deserve it Alice deserves it but to Charlie tbelly everybody you're not going to know you're just not going to know but now I revealed it he is putting his life into people that were called into safe to help to guide them to save them if they have to go out of town he arranges that when they come back he works with that he works with their families during the time they're away and it's a 365 day a year mission that you've taken on being a part of this organization I just want to say in my closing initial remarks there is no more important organization today in our community that's going to be there to save lives to help the people that lost their way they lost their way for whatever reason however it happened whatever came about that caused them to have drug alcohol gambling and a multitude of other things that safe is equipped to deal with and handle they are there they're like the big basket that everybody falls into because they are the only organization in the Syrian Jewish Community for all 80,000 of us that's going to handle these cases these people these situations their rate of success is incredible incredible the people that they get back on their feet so with no further Ado I gave my opening remarks how I feel I think I speak for all of you how you feel about the safe organization that Jimmy is the president of iky is the chairman I know that I left Ike out for one reason it's just one simple reason reason he doesn't like to be spoken about he's the founder we all heard the story about when he met Stanley Watching Over Us the big Stanley cheerer and from there Ike it became history I don't know what we would have done without you without this organization without the structure that ultimately became and became and became safe you know when you put your head on on the pillow every night you're saving lives of people that otherwise who knows who knows what the otherwise is but I could tell you in the case of this organization it's not good without them it's not good so thank the three of you stars in the front row I left out everybody else that's on the board the committee to all of you you know know who you are keep it up keep working keep doing you couldn't be spending your god-gifted time in a better way than helping safe to look after everyone in this community that needs their help to save them and get them back to their destination Jimmy come on out Harry thank you for uh dressing appropriately in the safe colors color scheme you look you have no idea how good you look behind the sign incredible I thought about dress from last night it's perfect you know the kid that goes first of school yes his pants and shirt that's what I did I thought Alice did that for you I pick my own clothes I also just so that I can go to bed tonight without any AA um he said that Nancy deserves the money she gets Alice deserves the money she gets Rishi also deserves the money that she gets thank you for uh uh letting me do this again it's uh a privilege that I take and in true Gambino style I told Rishi with you know you know I'm hosting again it's coming back to me and she said just when I thought I was out you pull me back in it's my uh honor and privilege to Welcome to the stage uh the lead sponsor of today's event bhi Bank Mr Gil Carney and his team they've I mean I want to tell you it's it's it's it's not taken for granted that they every single year answer the call with no questions asked we love your organization we see what you do for the community uh he he runs his bank like he runs his life with care and dedication and it's just a special special partnership that's existed for about 13 14 years now uh and every year it grows Mr Gil Carney please come on up good morning everyone thank you the Hadad family for hosting and organizing this event it's an honor to be here today for me actually it's the fourth time that I'm participating in this event but for the bank it's many more years B for your knowledge it's a bank capim International okay here in the states we choose to call ourselves vhi more easy to pronounce as I said I'm honored to be here today and I wanted to let those word linger it's an honor to be here today or anywhere any day for that matter every breath is is a blessing and that's something that is fundamental mission of the safe Foundation which since Inception 2003 has treated over 9,000 people helping our communities combat the chronic disease of ADD addiction and meet those needs with holistic treatment options of embrace and support the person and strengthen our families and our communities those sentiments that every day is a blessing that our shed support helps strengthen our community it's that shared sense of community that reinforce our strength and our resolve it's something that especially in light of the tra the tragedy that Israel suffered on October 7 I know we collectively need supporting one another as we cope with that shared trauma and find ways to Hope again for a brighter future as an institution bhi and Bap poalim have focused on how we can help our communities heal and rebuild for establishing 100 million fund to support the rebuild of the sou area of Israel to donate tens of million to organization both in Israel and us who are targeting support for Israel and including the communities here just a flavor of what we had done so far so we supported Hospital in the South that was hit during the attacks zaka everybody knows the voluntary Community Emergency Response Team who were tasked with impossible missions along with Mental Health Organization and raising awareness in the US about hostages crisis of course together with fidf IAC many other organization and organization that are supporting directly the community here like safe we believe in the resiliency of not just Israeli economy but the resiliency of our people of our communities what has transpired is a stu reminder that hatred and persecution is not just an artifact from ancient times or a grim account from Grand PR and pars about the horror of modern times but it's also reminder that we are stronger as a community when we supporting one each other on behalf of the entire BJ team I want to extend our headfi recognition and gratitude to the dedic to the dedicated staff and volunteers and members of the safe sbhi marks its 50 years operation in the in the US this year I'm happy to stand here and to declare our continued commitment to the safe Community the communities we operate in here and in Israel thank you very much on behalf of the board of safe the staff at safe and the entire community that you help we want to present you with this beautiful minora in it's a it's a symbol of the light that you provide for all of us thank you g very touching thank you very much year after year my dear friend Harry ay answers the call to service he answers the call to dedicate his personal time the call to donate funds the call to help in any way possible thank you very much Harry for always always standing shoulder toosh shoulder with us this year in particular has been difficult for us in all our hearts remain heavy knowing that our brothers and sisters in Israel are being held hostage are putting their lives in danger for the defense of our beloved ER Israel our Collective thoughts and prayers never Veer far from them and we beseech the almighty to bring the hostages in our soldiers home safely to their families where they belong and to bring peace to the region I'm going to only lightly touch on each of safe's Divisions so as to keep the program short we can enjoy the rest of this day as we watched in horror ever since October 7th in some ways it felt like the word world Stood Still but the mission that safe tackles day in and day out has not been lessened the level of calls to safe for help have not Abad the struggles of our clients be it substance or alcohol misuse problem gambling or eating disorders have not gotten easier to bear to the contrary safe is more vital to our community's health and well-being than ever before once again we've received over 800 calls for help this past year 800 families going through distress reaching out and fortunately having somewhere to turn alarmingly but not surprisingly over the last 3 years ad to saves clinics for problem gambling has more than doubled coinciding directly with the legalization of gambling in New York and New Jersey I don't even recognize the sports of my youth anymore an NFL an NBA game they replete with advertisements for gambling sites with the focus of the games and broadcasts on individual stats and player performances directly targeting our kids with flashy graphics and multiple screens ultimately encouraging them to place bets who actually won the game means nothing it's only by how many points they won who in particular did the scoring what made Sports a worthwhile Endeavor physical fitness learning how to succeed through teamwork fell by the wayside did the college team from a place I couldn't find on a map of the United States if you asked me to point to it did they cover the spread That's Sports in 2024 while it hasn't borne out yet in our admission statistics I fear marijuana misuse cases are also going to Skyrocket from their current levels technically legalized a couple of years ago at the same time as gambling for dispensaries marijuana was legalized at the same time but much slower to roll out gambling sites were up and running immediately upon legalization the marijuana places still just be because it was legalized in the state doesn't mean that the stores were licensed to actually start selling that was a much longer process that's first coming online now so I'm I'm really I'm really saddened to imagine that the same Spike we're seeing in gambling we're no pun intended with Spike same Spike we're seeing in uh gambling we're going to see with marijuana misuse as well fortunately we have the infrastructure to treat our clients as well as their family members our incredible Clinical Director Jessica steinetz leads a dedicated team of doctors therapists clinicians a staff a building full of medical professionals versed in the unique stresses and pressures of our community over 100 Active cases right this moment in our building confidentiality is Paramount Harry touched on it before I myself have no idea who calls or or is receiving treatment at safe it's only when I when I call somebody for a donation and they tell me you know you know somebody a family member of mine is going through it right now I have no idea confidentiality is key this year safe was awarded its license to have an office in New Jersey we've been operating in New Jersey for several years many years but we actually officially finally got the license process done so we're glad that we're going to be able to serve the New Jersey Community just like Brooklyn we've accomplished in mere months what takes years to do that is getting a license to treat Eating Disorders it torly takes years I'm telling you safe got it done in months we got our conditional license it's pending right now the building out of the building next door waiting for that final step to get to go ahead from the office of mental health that being said we didn't stop we didn't not treat pending certification we've been taking assessments on an initial basis and we've so far received and referred 44 clients for treatment that were paying for and seeing them 10 of which I'm very very proud to say have already graduated successfully [Applause] I can tell you just from empirical evidence it seems that the eating disorder division is going to grow exponentially over the next few years just by seeing what's how it's started at such a trajectory where it will probably outpace the calls for all the other uh issues safe deals with combined Project SAFE is the sibling project I'm sorry Project Safe and its sibling project project self are being taught to over 3,000 of our kids each week in 12 Community Schools the slideshow that you see on the screens are shots of but a small sample of the various programming that latan safe's director of Community Education has put in place for grades 5 through 12 in addition to age appropriate weekly education on the dangers of substance and alcohol use project self covers topics like bullying safe driving self-esteem body positivity other topics that lead to addictive behaviors in high school or even later in life the best treatment we can give for addiction is to Endeavor not to become an addict in the first place last but not least safe parenting safe parenting aims to assist the single most important influence on our CH children's lives our community parents through small workshops and larger scale events safe parenting tackles the most difficult of problems facing our community parents to that end I really want you to mark your calendars Tuesday July 31st at the DSN Beach Club safe parenting is bringing Professor Jonathan height author of the current New York Times bestselling book The anxious generation this is a highly recommended read for any young parent together in partnership with sbh and simha as well as our community schools safe is making a tremendous effort and push to educate parents on the benefits of delaying giving our kids a smartphone until they are teenagers I don't know if you remember a couple years ago Harry you stood up here and it wasn't part of the program and you were very very precient in saying that the cell phones are so dangerous it's come to sadly it's come to Bear we recently did a survey among our Yeshiva students just going to give you one stat 61% of kids our kids this is not a random survey this was a survey taken of our students 61% feel worse about themselves after scrolling through social media more than half those are the ones that admit it please July 31st Tuesday night I highly encourage attendance by especially especially young parents that have kids uh are contemplating about uh what age to get their kids a cell phone I've thrown a lot of numbers around 800 calls 3,000 students 100 active clients say nothing of the dozens of cases that safe manages that require a level of care more intensive than safes outpatient facilities the number I want to talk about again this year is one I could spend hours detailing the amount of effort and Care pain anguish fear and uncertainty the amount of phone calls handholding cajoling educating and rehabilitating that goes into just one case just one it's hours and hours and hours and we're there to do it addiction is a disease unlike any other a disease where often times The Afflicted person suffering either doesn't even want medical help or has difficulty sustaining treatment even if they welcome treatment it's a disease the tentacles of which affect The Afflicted as well as everyone else in their orbit their spouse their parents their children their business partners they're friends one case affects dozens of community members so I stand up here once again asking for your help not asking you to put in the thousands of hours needed to do the work but please if you're able provide us with the funding that we need to keep our doors open and treat this disease to meet the need for a badly needed expansion to continue educating our kids and our parents to hopefully avoid the need for treatment at all one day I really really thank you very much all for being here it's not lost on me that it's a magnificent day it's not lost on me how difficult it is and how many organizations ask for help and demand our presence at the events the support is really really helpful it's the wind behind our sales it's what keeps us going Ike thank so every year I come up here and I uh print out a page or two what I'm going to say but I don't know what's it really worth yes yes Stanley Chira Shalom every year I come back here and I think of Stanley and I was telling somebody the story earlier now one year I think it was uh 2008 2009 at his house 6:00 in the morning my phone rings I think it's a client what's up get to my house now I run to the house poor Norma running around Stanley's directing the show he looks at me he says it's raining I said I see that Stanley it's raining what are we going to do he says do you have a tent I said no no tent what's the plan I said we're doing God's work we'll work it out I don't know few hours later it's bright it's sunny the event is over Stanley looks at me with that those piercing eyes he looks at me and he says you're good you're better than me I said no Stan we're a team and with every team working together things work out our was safe team is an incredible credible team the amount of work and effort that our people do is incredible not every case is easy not every case is going to turn out great the safe board incredible volunteers I was talking to James's son earlier today said wow how do you do it how do you L with this guy in work he's so intense he says not so easy he said but when 502 hits he's the father again and I thank you James I thank you Charlie safe board Corey Joe Marvin Lorraine I'm sorry if I Michelle if I missed a few names but it really is an incredible job and Stanley my nephew and all the work that they're doing voluntarily I get paid I went back to school I got my license I get paid to do this they volunteer their time which is really amazing the Committees head by Diane school le that they had mentioned earlier is really really an unbelievable place to be none of that work that we that we do would be successful without everybody but today is a special day as you can see it's a beautiful day there's no humidity after two weeks of 90 deg 90 degree heat and you come here this morning for some kuk for some strength and realized that this is what it's all about Hashem puts us on this Earth to save lives to make changes and to help others today you're going to hear a little story and it's not easy to get up here and tell you a story a young man a father struggling with gambling issues losing his family and he made made one call he made one call for help and today he's going to share that story he's going to talk about his life and I'd like you to welcome Morty Cameo I got to just Embrace a moment for a second this is unbelievable good morning everyone I'm truly honored and privileged to be here today thank you spike thank you safe thanks for James to open up his house and invite me here and thanks for rim for letting me be here standing here in front of you if I if you told me 10 years ago I'd be on stage sharing my life story with the entire community and trying to help people I would say you're insane but I'm here now and I'm very very humbled before I share anything about my story and my addiction which was compulsive gambling we need to know what the def definition of compulsive Gambler is any betting or wagering for self for others whether for money or not no matter how slight or insignificant where the outcome is uncertain or depends upon chance or skill constitutes gambling that means if you're playing with your friends a tennis game and this guy just decides to say you know what I'll pay for the court that's gambling if some somebody wants to play basketball with you one-on-one and decides you know he wants to take it on that's considered gambling I want to take a moment and touch on the dangers of gambling especially with what's going on today with our youth not to say that I'm any older but uh kids are watching sports now more than ever the lines which means that the odds are on the actual TV screen they can bet while they're actually watching the game we can't stay away from it here's the insanity and I was actually at that speech when Harry was giving about the cellphones the other day these little gadgets that don't leave our hands cell phones are making it worse with gambling apps and online casinos actually just to Tap Away the number of Youth exposed to gambling has skyrocketed as Jimmy said a recent survey which I found on chat GPT thank you um that 55% of 11 to 16-year-old kids have the gambling apps on their phone 11 to 16year old kids have it on their phone crazy enough I was actually at the office the other day and uh a couple of kids about seven kids were leaving the office and I said you know what our kids Community kids I said let me take a poll here I said out of the seven guys how many guys do you have an app on the phone four of them raised their hands and said oh oh oh me me me so that's already he and these are guys I just met 30 seconds ago and I said let me take a poll with kids being more with kids being targeted more than ever it's crucial for parents wives friends here today to be educated on these things and this topic I heard a speech from my Rabbi the other day it was a great analogy where the rabbi was asked to speak on the topic any topic they said Rabbi you know uh choose a topic how about raising children he goes raising children I don't know much about raising children but what I do know is about raising parents when iiki actually called me I spoke at Hill once before to the kids of our community I spoke to the mag and David kids of our community and now I actually stand here in front of you speaking to the parents of these kids and I feel very special to actually relay the message to you because I know how important it is let's be clear on one thing gambling is a very profitable business they know exactly how to get you hooked apps like FanDuel which they mentioned this they're spending around $300 per new customer acquisition think about that we're all businessmen here $300 to get somebody hooked that can literally be any one of us today DraftKings they're giving up to $1,000 in Casino credit you can you don't even have to go to the casino anymore it's literally on your phone so gambling companies are spending almost double even triple to get these new customers they're not idiots they know that they they can they can hook anybody at any given time okay now that we have that clear the fun part let me introduce myself I'm Morty CIO I have the addiction of being a compulsive Gambler and my last bet was 3,5 59 days ago proud of you proud of you thank you you would never think that this would be your moment or if it would be my moment but it is it's my moment my gambling started innocently enough with some scratch off during high school when I was about 15 or 16 years old I was you know a little kid just playing scratch offs during recess a night of friendly poker tournaments with the boys for 20 bucks which turn which turned to 40 60 100 bucks eventually thousands occasional visits to the casino and AC occas occasional trips to Aruba which all of our kids have been including myself don't be fooled your kids are in the casino whether they're of age or not they're there they think it's cool that's what I thought I thought it was cool all these gambling binges and I never really looked at myself like I had a real problem over my teenage years it quickly escalated from small amounts to higher amounts and I'm talking a lot higher amounts I remember once at a friend's bachor party in Montreal I passed by a a shop and uh um you know I was debating whether to buy sunglasses at a whatever at a store and um I look at the glasses and I was like oh 400 bucks okay um so I started thinking I'm like I'm going to buy them with the manipulation of easily convincing my friends that night that we should go to the casino to try to make back that 400 those glasses cost me four grand at the end of the night losing the money didn't hurt well it did but um losing money did hurt obviously but it was the manipulation it was the craziness that I was able to convince my friends anything it's called in the program stinking thinking we just want to think in a way where we can just tell people what to do and convince them my business career started out in the mail order industry trying to make money at the time considering the pressures and the price of nice things nowadays especially out of high school you know especially of the kids now that I see they just want to make it they want to make it big they see everybody else making it big they see our community they see how tough it is they see how hard it is to actually make it so they want quick money it's also nice as a teenager to just buy things that you don't even need it's just fun I remember when I was young and I was making money I didn't you know I didn't have any expenses I just bought stuff they were just sitting there for no for no reason I was betting on anything and everything baseball in the middle of the day soccer at two o'clock in the afternoon tennis at 4:00 a.m. while I was sleeping I just needed the action just to get through my day but why what what was I missing was it Escape was I trying to run from something was it boredom was it selfworth did I feel like I I can't make it in life what was it I remember leaving the Shabbat table actually on one of the Friday nights just to place bets and watch the action Shabbat what's Shabbat I was gambling every time all the time on Shabbat too there's no religion when you're in the grip of the illness it makes no difference the one thing that I would love back is the time that I've lost with my parents and my siblings that's the one thing I couldn't replace so sorry but sorry that I soon found myself opening up my own business that barely lasted a year considering the responsibilities that I took on which were zero I was gambling while I was trying to make a living I was dating while I was trying to get married I wanted to just be a normal person iy always mentioned as iy always mentioned it mentions it in his speech I just want to be a normal person after deciding to shift gears I leave the industry I went into the wholesale of power for about two years thinking I can learn and grow something and do something and be something finally maybe I can get over this slowly but surely but the gambling didn't stop day in and day out week in and wake week out I saw myself taking money from my accounts that I had somewhat saved up and paying my bookie back then we had bookies we actually had to go see somebody I had to go see somebody to actually have the action we keep talking about it over and over this morning about how easy it is for the kids to or in anybody in general to actually make a bet I had to go see somebody picture this for a moment a lot of you guys work in the city I used to work near 1407 building I used to wait for this guy to show up this big guy and I would give him a lot of cash every Monday why to replenish my account because all I cared about was the BET week in week out week in and we week out just paying the guy the guy became my best friend at one point why wouldn't he I'm giving him all this money all the time nothing mattered just the next bet luckily throughout the new job though one positive thing did come about that I found my lovely life wife Karen who's sitting here yes she's still sitting here I got married at 25 and she was 21 21 she was young I was young kids are getting younger the by the minute getting married these days they don't even know who their spouse is sometimes she was in for a roote Awakening 5 days after we got married I decided to fly my parents to Vegas considering there was an offprice show I thought it would be a great idea no every compulsive gambler's dream I decided to make a sh a bit of Hut in Vegas I flew in my parents my in-laws were already there sounds funny now but it was a great story as we were heading up the room you know being the compulsive Gambler that I was I was comped at the at the Wind Casino and um my parents stayed at the Venetian with my in-laws and everybody and I thought I look cool because I was in a different Hotel little do you know that I used to gamble in AC you know I was comped from Vegas and that's why we stayed at the wind as we were making our way to the the room I decided to take a 3-hour pit stop by the blackjack tables my wife was sitting by my side I'm playing Four Hands of blackjack $50 to $100 each each uh hand she looked at me like it was fun for a while one hour goes by two hours goes by all right let's go I said no no you go five days married guys I decided to come up at 3:00 in the morning maxed out of my credit cards knock on the door and she decides to open up the door while yelling and screaming while packing up her bags and saying I'm out so my newly married wife after five days has threatened to leave and it's only it hasn't even been a week despite thinking I hit my rock bottom you would think I'd be done but I continued to gamble for another year it just got worse never better taking money from our safety deposit by week in and week out paying multiple bookies not just one I had multiple at the time walking into Chase Bank for that final time and seeing a black empty bag with a $72 voucher that was left for my wedding money which was over 150 Grand that I blew away I reached my lowest point I felt defeated broken and very alone the weight of my actions pressed down on every weaking moment I felt worthless over time I actually became numb to that feeling that's what gambling does it makes you feel good about your losses it makes you feel like oh this is normal this feeling that's the feeling I always had that's when my friend now who actually believe it or not was my bookie at the time he even thought I had a problem he said hey call Ike D I said who's ik D he's like take the number and call I remember exactly where I was it was in the showroom of of of still in the wholesale company I called Ike I said hey Ike I'm Morty I have a gambling problem he said great perfect client bring your wife in and we'll talk click I hung up on call my wife what does my wife have to do with it I have the problem not my wife I decided to move on after another month of Unthinkable Bing every hour on the hour trying to make back my money I decided I surrendered I finally made the call on October 1st 2014 and started step one step one in this yellow book which I keep on my side by my bed every night admitting I was powerless over gambling and my life has become unmanageable and I attended my first meeting that night recovery began entering the safe program twice a week with my wife and gam and with my wife Gamblers Anonymous meetings twice a week so basically my whole week was about recovery asking for help was the hardest and most crucial step asking for help was the hardest thing I had to do going to see this bookie all the time going to the bank and seeing my money gone I didn't care asking for help being vulnerable that got to me in our community in general we often see asking for help as a weakness but it's actually a sign of strength as the ram teaches us no man has BN wise we all need guidance and support to grow and overcome these challenges I had to throw some Rabbi stuff in there whoever's here maybe somebody's here but if they're not they'll hear us they'll hear us okay safe's mission is to address the disease of the addict given the options that they meet for their clients and their families but there's one thing you don't there's one thing you need to know it can happen to anybody if you don't think that it can happen within your family it can the illness the compulsion the craziness it doesn't discriminate regardless of your background your age or your status it makes no difference I continue to seek help through meetings I used to go twice a week to my ga rooms my sponsor who I owe a lot of gratitude to the people here as my support system they told me actually that this guy probably won't come back you know how many people actually make it in the program 2% two out of every hundred people who walk into the room and say that they have a problem gambling actually stick around as years went by I started feeling better I kept with the program I got a sponsor I listened to Ike I got the help that I need I went through safe but we call it in the program Life On Life's terms fast forward six years I want everyone to take a minute and just close your eyes for a second and really do it it's worth it March 2020 what's the first thing you realize or hear it could be Sirens it could be covid it could be spending PES alone we're past that right Harry I remember where you were we were standing together at a fundraiser a couple of days right before yeah who knew you know what I remember I remember rushing my 20-month-old son Michael to the hospital on a Thursday afternoon in March a couple days after puim he wasn't feeling well the world was dealing with Co and we were focused on Michael a couple days in the hospital they said he was going to be okay we brought him back home and we thought that that was that he started playing again he started being happy again Monday March 16 2020 we woke up and our lives have changed forever our son Michael had passed away from a respiratory virus that morning waking up to see that pain on my wife's face when she found him in his crib that's pain seeing people who are struggling seeing myself struggle didn't make a difference because I was self-inflicting but when I saw her that felt real it was real I didn't want to talk to anyone for a very long time I remember feeling that moment that I haven't felt in years I was sitting during my Shiva and I couldn't speak to anyone I had all the right to go back to gambling and no one would have opened their mouth but I didn't because that wouldn't bro that wouldn't that brought Michael back because of this my amazing wife and I have turned the greatest tragedy into a beautiful organization that you guys might have known or not and now this is the uh this is our achievement of that we'll call it but we started a it's called the Michael Cameo foundation in memory of our son which we help kids throughout Pim because that was the last time we spent with him we have memorialized him with two beautiful Parks here on the on on the Jersey Shore one in the kabad and one at the new DSN playground [Applause] that's all because I reached out that's all because I asked for help GA stands for GB get back I was able to get back my life because of safe and because of the program that's all because six years prior I made the toughest decision to call Spike that's what safe does they don't just treat the symptoms they Empower to rebuild their lives and your Liv when I called me originally I thought it was one of two things either speaking to another school which I was okay with maybe because they're little kids because I think that that's the most important thing or somebody was really struggling and he looked at me and he said step up this is your time to step up so I did and I'm very happy I did every dollar you contribute to this organization is money well spent because you never know whose life you might change or save I'm a regular guy walking the streets and you would never know that I had an addiction to to gambling anybody walking in the streets you would never know it's totally different than alcohol use and drug use not to say that they're any less concerning you have to ingest something as drugs you have to consume something as as alcohol anybody sitting here can be a compulsive gamble our kids can walk into the dangers like that thank God my kids never had to see that side of me because I never had kids when I was you know out there and I I'm grateful for that every single day and every moment so believe in the power of help and step up be confident in your journey and don't be afraid because I promise you this it's worth on the other side you'd rather have your life back take responsibility Rabbi mayor said this yesterday and I was telling him like I I'm so happy to be here he said take responsibility of your actions when you do that you wake up I was sleeping for a very long time and I decided to take back my life and I wanted to take back my life safe is here for you and your family and I'm here for you as well because no one should do this alone thank you for listening and today I feel [Applause] safe thank you Morty it it's I can't imagine the courage and the strength that it takes to share your story