A month after a Holly Springs teenager died and six months following her own son’s death, Bobbi Jo Marceno is speaking out against the choking game. And she wants everyone else to as well.

On Friday, May 1, the Kris Marceno Foundation will host a family casino night from 7 to 10 p.m. at Bond Park’s Cary Senior Center. The foundation, which started in January, hopes to raise money to fund education programs that promote open communication about the game and empower kids to protect themselves and their friends.

Their motto is “Speak Up,” an attitude Marceno believes is vital to exposing the game’s dangers — and something she thinks has been lacking in schools.

“Nobody seemed to want to talk about what had happened,” Marceno said about the Nov. 2 death of Kris, who strangled himself with an electrical cord attached to his bunk bed. He was 15.

The sentiment is shared by Breanna Anderson’s parents, who said they had never heard of the game prior to their daughter’s death on March 22. The 14-year-old was found dead in her room with a scarf around her neck.

“I learned about Breanna a little less than a week after it happened,” Marceno said. “I was definitely surprised. With all the coverage we had gotten, that they didn’t know about it, that kids are still doing it … it’s just too many kids.”

Breanna was a freshman at Holly Springs High School and Kris was a sophomore at Enloe High School. Both were, by all accounts, engaged in school activities and excited about their futures. Breanna was a model interested in fashion design and Kris loved acting and singing. None of the parents saw it coming.

“There’s a lot more kids out there doing it,” Marceno said.

The choking game, also known as the fainting game or pass out game, is the practice of asphyxiation to achieve a brief high. Although national statistics are low — 82 deaths have been attributed to the game between 1995 and 2000, according to the Center for Disease Control — experts say the real numbers are much higher, as most deaths are classified as suicides. Such was the case with Marceno, until friends came forward saying they saw him choke himself at school.

The Marcenos and the Andersons want the warning to be part of the schools’ drug and alcohol curriculums. Marceno said she faced a roadblock at Enloe.

“I could never get even get the principal to speak with me,” said Marceno, who said she sat at the school for two hours without getting a meeting. She said the only communication she received from the school were e-mails about Kris’ locker and returning his text books. An e-mail and phone call made to the principal at Enloe High School went unreturned.

However, Magellan, a charter school in Raleigh, asked Marceno to visit their campus. On April 21, Marceno and Sarah Huck, Kris’ childhood friend who produced a PSA about the choking game, spoke to the school’s PTA.

“They thought both of us together would be perfect to talk to the kids,” Marceno said. “They’re willing to open that can of worms.”

For now, Marceno will focus on fundraising at the casino night, which will include a silent auction with prizes like a signed hockey stick from retired Hurricanes player Glen Wesley and box seats to the upcoming Keith Urban and Sugarland concert.

“We have a good group of women working on this project,” said Marceno, who keeps in touch with Breanna’s mother. “I know exactly what she’s going through.”

For details, visit krismarcenofoundation.com or call 961-7537.

To see Sarah Huck's PSA, visit youtube.com.