22 Kill Challenge

The VA released a startling stat in 2013:

22 veterans are killed by suicide every day.

Let that sink in. Twenty-two EVERY DAY.

That stat launched the #22KILL movement – an effort to educate the public, and show financial, physical, mental, emotional support for our veterans battling thoughts of suicide. Part of the current awareness is a Facebook campaign nominating people to do 22 push-ups a day for 22 days.

#22Kill

#22Kill

Thanks to one of my Booz Allen Hamilton mentors, Heather Williams Walker, I’m doing 22 push-ups a day for 22 days to raise awareness of the tragic loss of combat veterans due to suicide. I am honored to be nominated and think of the struggles our heroes face on and off the battlefield with every push-up.

I started this challenge on Sunday, Sept. 25 and I’ve been capturing videos along the way.

For my first set of nominations, I’m asking my fellow fit-mommas to join the challenge. Ladies, I hope you’ll accept this challenge and add ~two minutes to your daily routines to think about our service women and men who feel they have no other options.

  1. Jessica Taylor, lifesaver who got me into 21-Day Fix
  2. Kelly Darrell, wife of a Naval Captain and former co-lead of Leash Your Fitness in San Diego
  3. Colleen Rooney White, CrossFitter and wife of a police officer
  4. Leslie Spector, CrossFitter and wife of a firefighter
  5. Stacy Alcala, CrossFitter and recently experienced the USMC Bootcamp

The rules are simple:
* Once nominated, your 22 days start the following day.
* Every day, record yourself doing 22 push-ups. Try your best to reach 22. If that means doing assisted (from your knees) push-ups or you have to stop and take a break that’s fine but try to get them all done in one video.
* Every day you must nominate a different person. Try to choose people you think will want to do this and/or have the ability to do it.
* And finally, have fun with this. This is a simple and fun way to get the word out about an important matter. These brave men and women put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms and yet, sadly, so many veterans feel suicide is the only option.

If you want to do more than push-ups, take direct action.
Click one of the links below to make a donation and to learn more about what you can do to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their communities through physical and social activity.
http://mosheroes.org/
http://www.teamrwb.org/
https://www.22kill.com

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