Taking steps to support vets
Nearly 100 people participate in CHAD1000X challenge
Trending
MARSHALL -- Like everybody else who signed up for Wednesday evening's CHAD1000X challenge held outside MRSHL Fitness on Third Street, National Guard veteran Joe Newhouse was ready to do something hard to support awareness for suicide prevention and military veterans' health.
"I was excited for the cause. Excited for what the cause was raising money for and to do anything for support that," Newhouse said after taking his turn on stepping on a wooden box over and over again.
Newhouse joined nearly 100 people who formed teams to complete 1,000 steps during the event.
"A lot of veterans do commit suicide after spending time overseas and see a lot of stuff. So we are putting this event on tonight," Audra Klinkner said. She is the executive director of the Action Foundation, which helps provide accessibility equipment to people with mobility challenges.
"So they have a team. They can have up to five people. Really, the whole purpose is that, you know these veterans did hard things and so this is something simple, something little that they can do to show respect to our veterans and bring awareness, Klinkner said.
The CHAD1000X was created in honor of Navy Seal Chad Wilkinson, who died by suicide in October of 2018 after struggling with "the invisible wounds of war."
"We have a team from US Bank. We have two teams from Holy Redeemer. Have two teachers. We have seven veterans or their spouses that are participating tonight. We're trying to show respect to our local veterans as well. We've had some really great local support from businesses just to give back to them as well," Klinkner said.