Walk, Talk, and Listen

Dain was killed in a shooting 10 days before Christmas 2019.  His girlfriend, Justine Kompare, was SomeoneTo Tell It To’s office administrator at the time. It was a heart-breaking time.

As we listened many days to Justine recount, through tears, the tragic scene on the Saturday night his life was taken, we learned that Dain was planning to ask her to marry him on Christmas Day. Dain loved Christmas and delighted in its music, decorations, and spirit. That he died in the midst of his favorite time of year, a season in which we are reminded of the vital importance of joy, hope, peace, and love, was both poetic and at the same time even more gut-wrenching for those who knew and loved him so deeply. 

Dain and Justine were two of the first people to sign up for Someone To Tell It To’s what are now annual walks, first started earlier in 2019, to promote a spirit of connection and sharing, which is what the walk was all about.  

We dedicated 2020’s walk, our second annual walk event, in Dain’s memory, to honor his spirit that valued those gifts so passionately. We think of Dain and Justine a lot every year when a new walk is being planned and held. And this year is no different.

Since 2019, each of our walks have been centered around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where Someone To Tell It To’s headquarters are located. But, we encouraged and invited people living anywhere to walk on the day or weekend of the scheduled walk and then send us photos of them participating wherever they were. Since then we have had people walking in many states across the United States, including on both the east and west coasts, and in several other countries around the world. We’ve truly been heartened by the response over the years from nearby and far away.

This year, on this coming Sunday, April 7, Someone To Tell It To’s Harriburg-based team will be Walking, Talking, and most importantly, Listening, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We’ll be there from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm, at the Lloyd Hall Recreation Center on Historic Boathouse Row, behind the iconic Philadelphia Art Museum.

On that day, people from the Philadelphia metropolitan area and beyond are invited to join us in walking together, having intentional conversations and connecting with one another to make a public difference in the mission to alleviate loneliness and disconnection. 

April is Stress Awareness Month and April 7 is World Health Day. We hope that you will join us in helping to highlight the importance of mental and emotional health in this time of increased loneliness and relational disconnection. You and your friends can register here to attend.

You don’t have to be in the Philadelphia area to walk in spirit with us. You can walk with someone anywhere you may be on Sunday, anywhere around the world. If you do, we invite you to send us a photo of you and anyone you’re with on your walk. We want to know wherever others are walking, talking, and listening. We simply want you to connect with your family and friends wherever you are and have a conversation to get to know one another in a deeper way.  

So, won’t you walk for connection?  Won’t you walk to join the movement that continues to grow to alleviate the loneliness that touches so many lives all around the world? As you walk, talk, and listen, the connections you can make and the significant things you can learn will enrich and enhance your lives and spirits in ways you can only imagine, unless you give it a try.