Ron Zaleski

I'm the founder of THLW in 2006, was a LCpl in the USMC 1970-72. I owned and ran a gym and scuba shop in the Hamptons for 28 years. After 9/11 I realized if I did nothing I allowed others to go through what we did and have little to no guidance after getting discharged. This was unacceptable to me. I walked the AT barefoot in 2006-7 to create awareness then across the country barefoot in 2010-11 carrying a petition which I brought to Washington DC trying to get mandatory counseling for all military personnel prior to discharge. Then 2014-16 had a homeless shelter in the Keys and now we have a mentorship program 2020 that has been the most effective thing to help more people across the country. I'm involved in every aspect of the organization and spend most of my time doing events and mentoring.