March 29, 2021
Monday March 29th marks the start of an effort to end a national tragedy. U.S Veterans and Active Duty Service Members are committing suicide at an alarming rate, way out of proportion with the U.S population, on average 22 per day. It has to stop! To bring awareness to the crisis we are kicking off the #22for22Challenge, a social media effort to spread the word. We are asking participants to do 22 push-ups representing each life lost, each family left behind daily. The idea is to record it, post it, and challenge others to do the same with the tag #22for22Challenge. While this is an awareness campaign we hope it will also compel participants to donate funds to two organizations already involved in the mission and assisting families of the fallen. Those being
The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project (https://www.thecharliedanielsjourneyhomeproject.org/) and Folds Of Honor (https://www.foldsofhonor.org/) so they may continue and expand the effort to save lives.
Why Monday March 29th? It was exactly one year ago Master SGT Christopher Andrew Barnes (US Army) became a statistic, leaving behind a devastated and confused family that felt there was no place to turn as Andy became distant. The idea to turn this family tragedy into a movement to end Veteran suicide originated with Andy's sister Leigh and kicking it off on this particular day is to honor his life and hopefully save many lives. The mission, to end this and nothing short of that is acceptable.
Robert J O’Neill You have been Challenged!!
