Media Coverage

January 2026
January 2026 Press Release - Coyote Marsh
GPF Foundation Honors Lake Forest College with the 2025 Harm Reduction Award
Lake Forest, IL -- The board and leadership of the GPF Foundation recently announced that Lake Forest College was named the most recent recipient of the foundation’s annual Harm Reduction Award that honors an individual or institution that has contributed significantly to saving lives through awareness. 

In accepting the award thanks to the long-running partnership between the college and the GPF Foundation – that includes 30 students acting as interns – President Michael Sosulski, Ph.D., said: “Lake Forest College is deeply grateful for the award and the lasting engagement with the Foundation that is both collaborative and impactful on the community. We look forward to continuing this productive partnership for years to come.”

Past Harm Reduction Award honorees include:
2024: Lake County Department of Health for its on-going role in supporting the GPF Foundation as a local resource for harm reduction training. The county has annually relied on the Foundation to train health department professionals from across the northern region of Illinois, equipping them with strategies to save more lives through awareness in the communities they serve.

2023: Dr. Ben Feinzimer, Illinois EMS Region 10 Medical Director - Highland Park Hospital, and Emily Mysel, Senior Program Manager - Family Service of Glencoe, for their leadership in launching an innovative harm reduction training program for first responders.

2022: Rosalind Franklin University for its long-time partnership with the GPF Foundation that includes simulation and digital medical training programs, as well as the launch of a Fellowship Program that has helped place 22 medical students with the Foundation.

2021: Dr. Jerrold B. Leikin was recognized for his work in medical toxicology, public health and medical education.

2020: The Honorable Michael G. Nerheim, former States Attorney for Lake County (IL) and currently a judge in the 19th Judicial Circuit, Second Subcircuit was recognized for his work to help establish the “A Way Out” program, and make Lake County the first county in the nation to direct its prosecutors and police departments to refer individuals with substance-related incidents to medical and social services instead of the criminal justice system.

About The GPF Foundation
In 2018 the GPF Foundation was established through an outpouring of love by close friends and the Friedman family in honor of Gregory Paul Friedman. Its mission is to support education, appropriate treatment and overall awareness of the dangers related to recreational drugs. In pursuit of this mission, GPFF focuses its work in two interrelated areas: 1) Educational Initiatives to mitigate the dangers of playing a modern day version of “Russian Roulette" with street drugs, including peer-to-peer outreach on the risks of MDMA (ecstasy or molly), particularly adulteration with other substances, and effective harm reduction strategies; and 2) Medical Initiatives that include development and dissemination of innovative clinical training tools for front line medical providers that address a critical “blind spot” in the accurate diagnosis and effective treatment of those experiencing adverse effects of psychostimulant use. Learn more at GPFFoundation.org.

For more information, including scheduling interviews, contact Michael Beightol (312.339.0055; mbeightol@coyotemarsh.com).

October 2024
October 2024 Issue of SW Lake Lifestyle
Second in a series featuring local charities making a difference.

December 3, 2023
WRLR-FM 98.3
Hear GPF Foundation Program Manager Frey Hoffman’s Live Radio Appearance on radio station WRLR-FM 98.3.

September 2023
September 2023 Issue of SW Lake Lifestyle
Author/Activist Don Winslow Shares All. Award-Winning Writer to Keynote the Sixth Annual Event for GPF Foundation.

August 31, 2023
WRLR-FM 98.3
Hear GPF Foundation President Ross Friedman’s Live Radio Appearance on radio station WRLR-FM 98.3.

July 2023
July 2023 Issue of SW Lake Lifestyle
Madame ZuZu's Emporium (Highland Park) was the site for a first-ever Community Harm Reduction Event.

January 2023
January 2023 Issue of SW Lake Lifestyle
Renowned theoretical physicist shares thoughts on the origin of time and space to a rapt group of GPF Foundation supporters.

December 2022
Forest & Bluff Magazine
Relive the excitement of  "An Evening of Discovery," GPF Foundation's 5th Annual Event as published by Forrest & Bluff magazine.

December 2022
December 2022 Issue of SW Lake Lifestyle
Here's a news piece from SW Lake about the GPF Foundation 5th Annual Event, "An Evening of Discovery."

Summer 2022
Helix RFU Newsletter
Here's a story from Helix, a newsletter published by our partner Rosalind Franklin University, about the development of the GPF Foundation's case on Full Code, an app based approach used to train medical professionals to accurately diagnose and treat patients who are having a bad reaction to recreational drugs.

July 12, 2022
WGN TV News
Here’s how WGN’s Medical Watch covered our announcement of Full Code.

February 2022
Forest & Bluff Magazine
Praise for the 2021 "Evening of Exploration," as seen in the February 2022 issue of Forest & Bluff Magazine.

January 2022
January 2022 Issue of SW Lake Lifestyle
"Evening of Exploration" Raises Funds for GPF Foundation, as seen in January 2022 issue of SW Lake Lifestyle.

January 24, 2022
Dr. Jerrold B. Leikin Wins Harm Reduction Award Presented by the GPF Foundation
Dr. Jerrold Leikin is the latest winner of the GPF Foundation's "Harm Reduction Award." Click on the link to read an Associated Press post on Dr. Leikin's ground-breaking career.

November 22, 2021
Shuttle Rock
"Shuttle Rock" is the story of John Grunfeld, NASA astronaut and staunch supporter of the GPF Foundation. Story from the November 22, 2021 Daily North Shore.

September 25th, 2021
The North Shore Weekend
"A Star Was Born and Died Too Young," published in a September 2021 edition of The North Shore Weekend, tells the origin story of the GPF Foundation will previewing the October 14, 2021 "Evening of Exploration."

WRLR FM/ September 24, 2020
Voice of Lake County

GPF Foundation Director Ross Friedman joined Lou Bruno on 98.3 WRLR FM The Voice of Lake County, to discuss our history, the progress we’ve made on our medical and educational initiatives in Lake County and beyond and recreational drug use during COVID-19.

KCBS Radio / November 3, 2019
Spotlight: Foundation Helps Save Lives By Creating Greater Awareness of the Dangers of Recreational Drugs.

“[When] I heard…Greg's story and how [the GPF Foundation] is working to make others aware of the dangers of recreational drug use, I was deeply touched, and, as the father of a 19-year-old son away at college, more than a bit concerned! Recreational drug use among young people is commonplace…so I am glad for any effort that helps both parents and young people become more knowledgeable of the risks…As a parent, you live with the fear of such a loss, but I am heartened to know that love lives on in the memories and impact of Greg's full life and in the advocacy for a better and safer world." - Listener Comment
Listen to Segment

Lake Forest Leader / October 22, 2019
Foundation Rallies Community Support for Recreational Drug Awareness.

WGN-TV / February 4, 2019
Segment on the GPF Foundation and Greg’s tragedy.
Watch Video

2019 “An Evening of Illusion” Event Coverage

Lake Forest Patch
https://patch.com/illinois/lakeforest/calendar/event/20191019/665360/an-evening-of-illusion-supports-gpf-foundation

Highland Park Patch
https://patch.com/illinois/highlandpark/evening-illusion-supports-new-gpf-foundation

Daily Herald
https://www.dailyherald.com/submitted/20191014/an-evening-of-illusion-supports-gpf-foundation

The Lake Forest Leader / November 1, 2018
A Light from the Dark: Foundation Launch Event Raises Awareness of Recreational Drugs in Honor of LFHS Alumnus.
Read Article

Chicago Tribune / October 29, 2018
Lake Forest family starts foundation after son’s drug related death: ‘We want to try and ultilize Greg’s journey’
Read Article