Group's 22-day trip raising awareness of veteran suicide passes through Johnson City
The group gathered at Wrecking Crew Harley-Davidson on Bristol Highway on Wednesday as it worked to pass through 22 states in 22 days.
Docs: Plane crash that killed Scott Bloomquist ruled a suicide
Event Organizers Jason and Angela White told News Channel 11 that the reason for the trip lasting 22 days is that the average number of veterans who commit suicide each day is 22.
On Wednesday, the group was in Tennessee, but left for Kentucky that afternoon. They will end in West Virginia before heading home to Ohio. The Whites said all money raised during the trip is donated to a research institute called STRIVE.
'STRIVE Collaborative is the only research institute in the United States that explicitly focuses on developing and refining treatments for elevated suicide risk, trauma, and gun-related violence,' the initiative's website states.
'STRIVE–the organization that we are raising the funds for–they fly veterans in from all over the United States, put them up in a hotel, provide them with meals, put them through a treatment program,' Angela said. 'And it's all at no cost to the veteran, but the great part is they can typically do that within a few days rather than, sometimes, the weeks or even months that it takes with the VA.'
Jason White said the organization plans to host the fundraising and awareness-raising road trip again next year.
'We started it, we wanted it to be a big thing, and it kind of at one point did get its own life,' he said. 'And it's kind of rolled bigger, quicker than what we expected, so we're really excited to continue going and do next year.'
For more information or to donate or purchase a shirt, visit riding22in22vsa.com.
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