Long Island man does 23 pushups every day for 10 years to raise awareness for veteran suicide
22 veterans lose their lives by suicide every day.
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Operation VEST — Veterans Ending Suicide Together — is recognizing 10 years of pushups.
Twenty-two veterans lose their lives by suicide every day.
Operation VEST is trying to raise awareness and address the mental health needs of veterans and first responders.
One way they do that is through pushups. Co-founder Stefan Hespeler has done 23 pushups every day for the past 10 years — 22 for veterans who die by suicide plus one for active duty service members.
“It’s a small sacrifice for those that really sign a blank check, willing do anything to give their life for our country,” Hespeler said. “So it's our way to give back.”
“Twenty-two plus one push ups per day, times 10 years, is 84,019,” Jenny Hespeler said. “That's the amount of lives that we want to help prevent in the future.”
The 10-year anniversary flash mob pushup event was held at Suffolk County Community College.
The goal of Operation VEST is to connect veterans with nonprofits and remove the stigma surrounding mental health.
