Dorks for Veteran Suicide Awareness
22 veterans commit suicide each day in the United States. That’s nearly one per hour. September is Suicide Awareness Month and today is September 22nd, National Veteran Suicide Prevention Day.
Out of the 45,000+ Americans who lost their lives by suicide, over 6,000 of them were veterans. That represents over 10% of all deaths by suicide (Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report). In 2017, in the United States, the suicide rate for Veterans was 1.5 times the rate for non-Veteran adults. Suicide impacts vets more than others. The numbers aren’t improving. They are getting worse over time.
Homelessness doesn’t help either, with over 15,000 literally sleeping on the streets, without access to homeless shelters. Where’s the care for these people, they protected us, why can’t we do the same? Instead of being cared for, these people are isolated, mistreated, and often forgotten by society at large.
There’s reasons why 22 veterans commit suicide each day. It’s a tragedy because this is a kind of social illness.
Something is seriously not right here & something needs to change. Trevor Kuchar understands this well. Before dork dancing, he was saving lives protecting people. Trevor is a veteran and survivor of deep depression. He understands this issue intimately. For him, it’s personal.
That’s why Trevor introduced a powerful social media campaign #veteransinitiative22 #22killpushupchallenge to the Da Nang community. Through this campaign, Trevor has done an incredible job heightening awareness among non-vets (that’s most people). This is what’s needed for change, those NOT immediately affected need to step up.
If we can’t care for veterans — those most obviously deserving of society’s protection — then who can we care for? Just the rich? We can do better. We need to, there’s no other acceptable option.
The Da Nang expat community, representing a mixture of nationalities, has certainly stepped up. Even Vietnamese, which carry deep pain & destruction as a direct consequence of American intervention care. They are doing pushups too. And that is just incredibly admirable. We can come together for people across imaginary lines. The Vietnamese people are demonstrating this.
This cultural exchange, despite military histories, carries tremendous weight. 22 pushups, that stat and campaign comes from the United States, but we can come together for a shared purpose.
Veterans around the world face incredible psychological hardship. There’s something deeply universal & identifiable in the threat of suicide. It’s human. regardless of where you come from. Human loss is tragedy.
Trevor nominated another mental health champion, Tim Nguyên, a Vietnamese Canadian dork dancer from MUD Bistro, for the push-up challenge. Tim is the kind of guy that shows up for people. He is driven by purpose, consistently looking for ways to contribute to his community. He cares deeply about mental health issues, which is why he’s taking the #22killpushupchallenge seriously.
Tim wants to finish his challenge on a powerful note. For his 22nd day, he is recruiting 22 people and we at #dorkdancing love his drive. Just yesterday we gave it a shot and recruited 14 people. It was a fun and overall successful first try. It was impressive how Tim rallies and inspires his friends & neighbors.
BUT, we were 8 short, so we are giving this another try. We are inviting those of you in Da Nang who care about veterans and their mental health to come out this Thursday at 4:15PM to continue. Tim wants to hit 22 and we are inspired by that statement.
We are a community of dorks dancing for mental health, advocating. We hope you can lend not only your legs for dance but your arms too for a few pushups. Veterans need your support, care, and concern. Your presence really, truly matters.
Admittedly you can’t do pushups and have the problem go away. They don’t solve the problem, but they start the conversation. Awareness is required to take further action, to mobilize, and design social solutions.
You too can take action. Here’s what you can do…
Participate in the #22killpushupchallenge to raise awareness, spreading the message
Give to a Veteran Suicide Prevention Charity
Research the problem and what is being done
Speak with Veterans to learn more about the issue directly and ask how to be helpful
Speak with local politicians to learn how they are addressing this challenge locally