That’s 22 su***des a day, a su***de every 65 minutes. As shocking as that number is, the real number may actually be higher. The rate of su***de among veterans may be more than double what federal officials report annually because of undercounting related to drug overdose deaths and service record errors - MilitaryTimes 17 SEP 2022
The core idea: Provide an infrastructure that connects communiti
es to veterans in a passive way while understanding and appreciating a Veteran’s individual story. Building an interactive platform to explore personal stories and immediately send an appreciation message directly to veterans while protecting personal information. Providing a way to personally engage with veterans respectfully while remaining anonymous. Finally, educating communities on the resilience of veterans and their struggle with su***de. The problem: Su***de among veterans continues to outpace, by percentage, society at large. Strategies to reduce su***des are a focus of several medical and outreach programs.These strategies, in general, require the at-risk population or their personal network (family, friends) to carry the burden of initiating the first step of receiving care. This leaves the final outreach of a veteran or family member, before they commit su***de, to their closest and trusted confidants. The circumstances that lead up to this point are avoidable but feel inescapable. Imagine having hundreds of close colleagues you see everyday to complete silence. The requirement to be interactive with colleagues is gone and the deafening silence creates an environment of immense reflection on past decisions and inescapable loss. Finally, US society struggles to understand military service and infer a “broken” status among veterans, family, and service members. The generic “thank you for your service” statement often becomes a cringe-worthy engagement and difficult to process, especially when no one knows your story. Challenge Accepted / Challenge Returned - the way we connect the pieces
The two major functions of the non-profit organization
A challenge coin is a small coin or medallion, bearing an organization's insignia or emblem and carried by the organization's members. Traditionally, they might be given to prove membership when asked and to enhance morale. They are also collected by service members and law enforcement personnel. Historically, challenge coins were presented by unit commanders in recognition of special achievement by a member of the unit. They could also be exchanged in recognition of visits to an organization. Challenge Coin Drop: Challenge coins are given to service members as a non official way to recognize achievement or celebration of unit involvement. The challenge coins have different reasons and different purposes. As the name suggests, service members accept the challenge of duty to the country and the challenge coin is returned to a coin drop at a location participating in the non profit. The coin drop is approximately 3ft x 6ft (size varies based on location) and features a wooden frame of see-through plexiglass. At the top of the coin drop is an open area to allow for coins to be dropped, allowing for the coins to stack on one another. When returning a coin, the service member provides an email address and receives a challenge accepted, challenge returned coin in exchange. Additionally, they receive a free beverage of choice. Coins can also be purchased to support the coin exchange program. Once a coin wall fills up, the wall will be taken down and given to a local artist/woodworking specialist (preferably a veteran owned business) to polyurethane the coins into the display/table. Once complete, the wall will be auctioned off either at the location or a suitable event. These funds are used to support the building of additional coin drops, purchase of exchange coins, and pre-paid postage for the 2nd major function of the non-profit. The pre-paid postage is the biggest cost and will require consistent funding to support the reach out and reception of military awards from veterans. The pre-paid postage is designed to be user friendly and may require future volunteers to assist veterans to get their packages sent. Military wall plaques come in various sizes and materials but typically have a unit crest, unit flag, or unit description with a personalized narrative describing the service member’s contribution and length of service with the unit. These plaques are given to all ranks of service members and often displayed within the homes or offices of each individual member. Some of these plaques have hidden meanings or even comical references that relate to the individual. Those that have served in several units may possess dozens of these plaques and often remain in storage or garages. History returned: With the vast email distribution list from the coin drop and initial plaque donations of prominent members of the military, there will be a request to send in additional plaques that have remained in storage to the nonprofit organization. The postage will be pre-paid and will require the service member to provide a quick description of the plaque, a short history of themselves, and a picture of themselves either in service or current day. In the beginning, Over The Horizon Brewery companies dedicate a wall for these plaques to be displayed for anyone and everyone to see. Each plaque will have a QR code that will direct the reader to the personal story of the service member, history of the plaque, and picture. This plaque will be a part of a physical and digital wall on the website, allowing individuals to search through the remainder of the plaques on the wall. Each participating business will be linked into this website, allowing for people to search all plaque walls across the nation. In addition to requesting plaques from veterans and service members, gold star families will be asked to contribute plaques of fallen service members as a way to remember and acknowledge their sacrifices. At the bottom of each individual webpage, there will be three buttons: a link to donate to the organization, a link to view other stories and the other to send an anonymous pre-formatted direct email or an anonymous message via social media to the service member or family members (if they decide to participate). These emails/messages will be screened prior to being sent to the veteran/family to ensure appropriate language and content. The theme of the email will fall into two categories. Thank you for your service; Thank you for your sacrifice. If desired, the individual sending the email may have an opportunity to fill in a first name, location, and a limited number of characters to be a part of the message. These emails will get to the service members/family personal email/social media and can be discontinued at any time. Additional details of veteran support organizations will be provided but the theme of the message will be gratitude of a very specific history, narrative, and personalized to the individual. Ultimately these messages become the foundation of connecting local communities to veterans around the world while remaining personal in nature and genuine in delivery. The digital platform will be able to reach globally while maintaining a very personal feel. Although the mission of Challenge Accepted, Challenge Returned is incomplete without the ability to nominate individuals in need. On the main website page, anyone can nominate an individual to receive these messages of encouragement. At any time, individuals can unsubscribe but the intent is to get out to as many individuals that need support but may not want to self-nominate. Expansion of funding and support provides opportunities to develop disabled veteran retreats in Charlotte, Columbia and Charleston, SC (among other locations). These retreats will be focused on the celebration of their sacrifices. Activities include but are not limited to: room and meals, sport tickets, hunting excursions, beer making, brewery site visit, brewery serving, range day (donated land provided by an anonymous donor) with key supporters.
