Two best friends — one gay, one straight — are gearing up to travel across the country to tell their stories and to film the inspiring stories of others.
Jon Ristaino, 23, and Levi Schenk, 24, met 12 years ago in their hometown of Landenburg — before Ristaino came out and before Schenk lost 120 pounds, two experiences that significantly changed their lives. The pair is now gearing up to take the lessons of those life-changing events on the road.
Ristaino, who works as a bartender at Tavern On Camac, and Schenk, who is studying media and production studies at Temple University, have created “Be Who You Are: A Cross Country Documentary,” which will chronicle their 25-day drive across the nation next month.
Ristaino is a Temple graduate who majored in broadcasting, telecommunications and mass media with a concentration in documentary-film studies.
“I went to school for broadcast journalism and always had this idea in my mind of a cross-country odyssey, and the timing was perfect,” he said.
The pair will embark on their trip Dec. 26 and will travel from Philadelphia with Los Angeles as the final destination, with stops in Washington, D.C.; Pittsburgh; Cleveland; Chicago; St. Louis; Kansas City, Kan.; Denver; New Orleans.; Atlanta.; Charlotte, N.C.; Las Vegas; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Dallas, Tex.
The pair is looking to meet with people who have inspiring stories to share about overcoming adversity; some of the encounters will be planned and others will be organic.
“We are looking for people who have overcome something despite external influences, whether that is from family, society norms, not having money or a tragic accident,” Schenk said.
Supporters can track where the two have been on their website, and they will also post snippet videos about their journey and the stories they hear.
To support the trip, the pair is hoping to raise $11,000 and have launched an IndieGogo account to raise funds. They currently have $4,240 raised.
Funds raised will go toward transportation, roadside assistance, food, camera equipment and other basic necessities.
Schenk said the pair is impressed by the level of support they’ve already received.
“Our home community has gotten behind us. Our high-school teachers have been giving us great feedback. We went around to businesses to see if they will sponsor and people really wanted to donate,” he said. “We are trying to get our large, local community to start getting involved.”
Schenk said he is eager for the effort to help empower young people.
“Youth have a hard time with self-identity, especially with social media. A lot of kids are trying to be something but they don’t have any idea of who they are. It is important for them to learn and break down those barriers. What other people put on you is not who you really are,” he said. “My little sister is 13 and was almost put in the slower-track classes. We worked all summer reading her required books and now she is on the honor roll.”
Ristaino added that the documentary is meant to show youth that their dreams can be accomplished with the right amount of hard work.
“Our youth nowadays sometimes lose their work ethic and people don’t realize how hard things are if you want to do something big, but you can do it,” he said. “If you really want something and put hard work into it, it can work. It is important for youth to see what we are doing. It is our story and journey, with our struggles in between.”
The pair plans to enter their documentary into film festivals this summer.
For more information, visit jonandleviadventure.com or www.facebook.com/JonandLeviAdventure. To donate, visit www.indiegogo.com/projects/be-who-you-are.
