This post is made possible with support from the Wounded Warrior Project. All opinions are my own.
Supporting veterans and service members has always been an important cause for me. As a pin up, I have participated in projects and organizations over the last seven years to do just that. So, it should come as no surprise that I am participating in the Wounded Warrior Project Carry Forward 5K this year! If you don’t know about it, then let me tell you about the organization, the 5K, and how you can get involved to help!
What is Wounded Warrior Project?
Since 2003, Wounded Warrior Project has worked to advocate for America’s injured veterans. WWP works to give veterans free services in mental health, career counseling, and long-term rehabilitative care. Those receiving these services never pay a penny for them. Every dollar brought to WWP goes towards helping those veterans in need. The goal is to help and empower those veterans to become warriors that carry others, thus embodying the Wounded Warrior Project logo. For warriors, the logo is a symbol of resilience and a reminder of their passion for continued service. Since these programs are free, they are provided by generous donors.
Here are just some of the ways Wounded Warrior Project makes an impact:
Service Impact
- Wounded Warrior Project delivered more than 65,000 backpacks, transition care packages, and family support bags since 2003. These bags contain clothing, toiletries, and a reminder that someone is there to support them.
- Wounded Warrior Project’s advocacy efforts provided financial assistance, training and health care coverage.
- Also Wounded Warrior project invested more than $1.3 billion into programs and services provided free of charge to injured veterans, their families, and caregivers.
Mental Health Programs
- Wounded Warrior Project focuses on the mental health of warriors.
- Warrior Care Network partners with medical centers to provide clinical care, which includes more than 70 hours of individualized mental health care for each warrior.
- Outdoor rehabilitative mental health workshops provide challenges and support to veterans. This helps give warriors coping skills to help with post-traumatic stress.
- They also provide telephone support lines to warriors in need.
Adaptive Sports Programs
- Wounded Warrior Project helps with physical health programming to help them engage in different physical activities to help them overcome their injuries.
- The participation in inclusive sports has been proven to have a big impact on mental health and well-being.
The impact from Wounded Warrior Project is amazing. However, it relies on the generous donations from others with events like the Wounded Warrior Project Carry Forward 5K!
How to Get Involved in the Wounded Warrior Project Carry Forward 5K
Every year in cities across the US, there are Carry Forward 5K events to help raise money for Wounded Warrior Project. Even if you don’t live close to a city hosting one, you can still participate in a Carry Forward Virtual 5K! This is a great way to get your whole family involved and use it as an opportunity to participate in something meaningful.
When you sign up for an event, you commit to participating. Also, you collect donations from family and friends that are supporting your commitment to participating. These donations go to all the projects that I mentioned that Wounded Warrior Project does above.
Even though some of the in-person events have already taken place, you can still register to participate in a Carry Forward Virtual 5K! To see a little more about the impact made because of these events, be sure to check out the video here!
Why I am Participating in Wounded Warrior Project Carry Forward Virtual 5K
As I said before, I am passionate in participating in events to help service members and veterans. However, my reason is more than just supporting our troops. My family has many family members that have served over the years. One, in particular, has been my baby brother. He served two tours in Iraq. He and I were always close when I was younger, and I love him very much.
While we don’t see each other much, I am very proud of him. I did not serve, but I do want to find ways to give back using my voice as an influencer and other ways I can help.
So…even though I am eight months pregnant at the time of writing this, I have been working on getting ready to participate in a Carry Forward Virtual 5K! Guaranteed, I will be quite slow. However, I am very committed!
Final Thoughts
I hope you all will join me in participating this year. If you can’t participate, you can always donate. If you have participated, I would love to hear about it. So feel free to share your story in the comments below. As always, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter and join the community on Facebook!
This is a great cause. We donate a lot to veterans.
That is awesome! A lot of the charity work I do either benefits veterans or goes towards social justice issues
I love the idea of a virtual run! It would be very difficult to run with a mask on! lol. Great charity.
The nice thing about a virtual 5k is that I was able to choose my course. We picked a path that was clear of people so while I had one with me, as usual, I didn’t need it. I have spent a lot of the summer finding new places where people aren’t going. I guess it is one benefit to being close to one of the nation’s largest metro parks
I had heard of it before, but never knew what it was.
That was the response I got a lot, even from my own husband. I am so happy I was able to work with them to put something together to share about how awesome this cause is!
Thank you for sharing this great information!
My husband is a veteran and so was my dad. My grandson is a Marine stationed in Virginia. I give to a lot of Vets charities! Just like everything else, the government lied about taking care of our guys when they serve in the armed forces! I appreciate their service! This is one of the ways I hope it helps!
This is such a wonderful cause. I am so thankful to our Veterans.