Last spring, Denis Asselin walked 500 miles — or 1 million steps — from his home near Philadelphia all the way to Boston on a pilgrimage in memory of his son Nathaniel. Nathaniel Asselin was an amazing young man who battled body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a disorder related to OCD, until he took his own life at just 24 years old. Denis’ pilgrimage was a way to honor Nathaniel’s too short life, while also raising awareness about OCD and BDD along the way (
read more here). On June 7th, 2012, Denis reached Boston and was greeted by a crowd of well-wishers at the IOCDF OCD Rally. At the rally, Denis remarked that while he walked over a million steps, there were still millions more to go towards raising awareness and understanding about OCD and BDD.
This year, we want to see how many million steps we can walk for OCD awareness together. Denis is setting out on another pilgrimage, and we are inviting all of you to walk along — helping us raise money for the foundation, and more importantly, raising awareness about OCD and related disorders along the way.
If you live in New England, we invite you to join our Boston walk on June 8th, 2013 (see details below). And if you can’t make it to Boston, we invite to walk with Denis in spirit, by joining our virtual walk, and pledging to walk 1,000 steps or 5,000 steps or even 1 million steps — whatever you can — in your hometown. You can walk alone, or invite friends and family to join you.
Learn more about how to join the virtual walk here.
1 in 100 people in the US are living with OCD. And many of those people don’t have access to effective treatment. Help us change that. Take a step and be part of #1million4OCD.
WHERE: Jamaica Pond, Boston, MA
WHEN: Saturday, June 8, 2013
- Registration: 8am
- Opening Ceremony: 9:30am
- Walk Start: 10am
COST: FREE to register, but we ask that you make a minimum fundraising commitment of $50. You can choose to donate $50 at registration, or ask for donations from your friends and family on your very own fundraising webpage (see details below).
GETTING THERE: Jamaica Pond is located in the Jamaica Plain neighbor hood of Boston. There is limited parking on the northwest side of the pond, but we encourage you to use public transportation on the walk day. The #39 bus travels from Back Bay Station (commuter rail and subway service) and stops one block away from the walk start. You can use the MBTA travel planner to determine the quickest route to the walk from your location. Or you can use Google Maps (at right).