The Hicksville community is familiar with football star Ronnie Cameron, who attended Holy Trinity High School and is now a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
What residents may not know is that between practices, meetings and training, Cameron – an imposing physical specimen at 6 feet, 2 inches and nearly 300 pounds – recently founded Bonfire Impact, a social awareness website that highlights the good deeds of professional athletes and other prominent figures in the public spotlight.
According to bonfireimpact.com, the website aims to “deliver news and media that promotes charitable organizations, nonprofits, social awareness, human rights, social issues, education advocacy, health and under-covered stories.”
Cameron, who is currently back home in Westbury until late March when he will report to the Philadelphia Eagles for Organized Team Activities (OTAs), began working on the Bonfire project five months ago during his off-days as a member of the Cleveland Browns.
“I had been doing a lot of volunteer stuff then and I was writing for the Huffington Post at the time and I saw that there weren’t enough stories about people doing the right things in the media,” said Cameron, a defensive tackle.
Cameron recruited a team of writers from various universities and assembled a group of individuals working with a common goal in mind.
“We want to keep putting out good news and positive news to empower people so they have the power to make change. We want people to have a place where they can go to one place to find out about these organizations and find out the good things that are going on out there,” said Cameron.
Beginning his football career on the fields at New Cassel’s Park Avenue School and then joining the Mineola peewee football program before enrolling at Holy Trinity High School and then Hofstra University and Old Dominion University, traveling has never been an issue for Cameron – especially in the past 12 months.
“It’s been a roller coaster ride and a crazy year. From the pre-draft training, interviewing with 11 different teams, going undrafted, then choosing Chicago, competing there, getting cut, getting picked up by Cleveland, getting released and ending up in Philly.
“I had a lot of different experiences over the last year and met a lot of good people that I’m pretty sure a lot of people don’t get to experience in a lifetime. It was a great year looking back,” said Cameron, who earned First Team All American, CAA Defensive Player of the Year and CAA Scholar Athlete of the Year honors as a two-year starter at Old Dominion.
The multi-talented Holy Trinity alum, who cited the success of his Monarchs football team in 2011 and earning his MBA in 16 months as two of his greatest achievements, will undoubtedly make his alma mater proud – regardless of where he ends up next.
Visit www.bonfireimpact.com for more information.
