9/11 Ride of Hope to Raise Awareness for First Responder Mental Health

NORTH FALMOUTH, Mass., Aug. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Quell Foundation will host the 9/11 Ride of Hope as a peloton of 20 cyclists will travel from New York City, N.Y. to Arlington, Va., during the week leading up to the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The 5-day event will kick off from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum on Tuesday, September 7, and conclude in Arlington on Saturday. The group will include active, retired, and surviving family members of first responders, many of whom responded to the horrific events of September 11, 2001. 

Cycling 225 miles, this journey seeks to bring greater awareness and understanding to the long-term impact and emotional toll our nation's first responders experience through compounded daily trauma. The Ride of Hope also aims to educate, inspire, and empower first responders to recognize mental health crisis warning signs amongst their own. 

Each mile of the journey will pay respect to those who lost their lives and demonstrate The Foundation's commitment to the mental health of our nation's First Responder, Emergency Response, Government Agencies, and Military communities. 

"The women and men of our nation's first responder community are more likely to die by suicide than in the line-of-duty. These Americans who have dedicated their life to protecting, and saving ours, are taking their own at unprecedented rates," said Kevin M. Lynch, CEO and President of The Quell Foundation. "The deteriorating mental health of our country's first responders is at a critical point. On this, the twentieth anniversary of these tragic events, it is time we take care of the heroes who are there for us."

Funds from the 9/11 Ride of Hope will support the continued development and implementation of The Foundation's first responder mental health preparedness and training program.

Please visit the 9/11 Ride of Hope website for more information, purchase gear, or donate to the event. 

Sponsors for the event include FirstNet, Built with AT&T, Dell Technologies, K2 View, Morgan Stanley, and MOD. 

About The Quell Foundation, Inc.

North Falmouth, MA - The Quell Foundation strives to reduce the number of suicides, overdoses, and the incarceration of people living with a mental health illness. We work to accomplish this by encouraging people to share their stories, increasing access to mental health services, providing a pipeline of future mental health care professionals, and training first responders to recognize mental health crisis warning signs amongst their own.

Visit https://www.thequellfoundation.org/ to learn more about the Masquerade Ball, the "Lift the Mask - Portraits of Life with Mental Illness" documentary, or for general information about the Foundation. The Quell Foundation, Inc. is a National 501(c)(3) not-for-profit foundation - Tax ID 47-5127883

Media contact:
Sarah Marshall
[email protected]
330-691-0218

SOURCE The Quell Foundation