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Every day, 22 veterans take their own lives, a heartbreaking statistic that highlights the urgent need for effective suicide prevention efforts within the veteran community. 22 Challenge, an organization started by Tip McCurdy in 2014, emerged as a powerful initiative aimed at raising awareness and support for veterans struggling with mental health issues.
Tip, a Marine himself, was inspired by the efforts of other other various organizations that were already working to combat veteran suicide. “When I started, I only intended on doing one march event in Jeffersonville to help bring awareness to the 22 veterans a day that are lost to suicide. Initially, I didn’t want to fundraise, I didn’t want to sell t-shirts. I just wanted a way to give back that was my way of doing it, rather than what’s already been done,” he explained.
However, Tip was blown away by the impact of the first march. “Everyone was asking me how they could donate to the cause, buy t-shirts, and all of that, but I wasn’t a 501(c)(3) at that point. My friend was like, ‘dude, they are trying to give you money!’ It was then that I realized everything that I had thought was wrong, it was all actually the right way to do it. So the next year we started fundraising and we’ve been growing ever since.”
22 Challenge has had upwards of over 600 people show up to their events. “We do a march, a Coffee and Talk event, a 5k/10k Ruck Walk/Run, we do veterans outings, we take veterans fishing…we’ve given money to counseling organizations so that veterans don’t have to pay their co-pays. We even helped put a roof on the garage of an 83 year old Korean War Vet. Many organizations like Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Samtec Cares, have been really good to us.”
Donations to 22 Challenge stay local in the Southern Indiana area. “People have approached me about taking the organization to other states. I like it here locally, though, because I can actually see what’s happening. It’s rewarding to see the impact it has on your own community.”
Tip doesn’t want to be the face of veterans suicide, he prefers to boast the impact that the organization is having as a whole. “There are a lot of things that have touched me along this journey,” said Tip. “I know that we are helping to make a difference. I believe that the number is down to 17 veterans a day…22 to 17 is pretty phenomenal. Stopping one person from taking their life is a major thing, stopping all of them would be incredible.”
HELP OUT
22 Challenge
22challenge.org ● (812) 406-9081 ● mywarriorskeepers@gmail.com
