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Why I Donated My Birthday to The Mission Continues

We just may have what you didn’t know was missing.

By Sean Tyler, volunteer

One of the biggest challenges in my life was leaving the U.S. Army after over 15 years of service as an enlisted Infantryman and a commissioned Medical Service Corps Officer.

I medically retired in December of 2013, and for lack of better words, I was not prepared. In 2012 I was diagnosed with PTSD and had significant damage to both my hip and back; I received a total hip replacement that same year. My last two years of active duty were full of surgeries, medical, and mental health appointments. The combination of these ailments led to my medical retirement.

To me at the time, being non-deployable was a death sentence for my career, and a PTSD diagnosis was a death sentence for my soul. I felt as if I was broken beyond repair and obliged to fulfill my new moniker as a “dysfunctional veteran.” I dove head first into self-loathing and alcohol abuse to numb my emptiness and despair.

Continue reading “Why I Donated My Birthday to The Mission Continues”
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Needs, Wants and Paying it Forward

November 28, 2017
By Kathy French, Mission Continues Supporter

Kathy French with The Mission Continues

I was raised a very practical person – a necessity – as we were a middle class family where purchases were thought out and used to meet needs. Wants were covered by allowance money from mowing the lawn and other chores.  

A key phrase from my childhood if I wanted something was “save your money.” Saving my money wasn’t enough to get me to my childhood dream of being an engineer to help our country tackle its infrastructure challenges.  

However, through the generosity of others via scholarships, I got to achieve my dream via graduation from the top-rated Harvey Mudd College with a general engineering degree.  My degree got me into a career of environmental engineering and emissions compliance from power plants.

In the last several years after my debts were paid off and I was able to actually establish a savings account, I took stock of the road I was headed down and realized that I had lost that discernment between needs and wants and I had to break from keeping up with the Smiths and Joneses.  

By not buying a new car just so I could say it was new or carrying a brand-name purse just to create an appearance, or upgrading my 1970’s era fully functional kitchen, I found I was able to create a bucket of disposable income that I knew, borrowing the term from the 2000 movie, I wanted to “pay it forward.”

However, I was left with the struggle of finding a hardworking, deserving person to pay it forward to. Continue reading “Needs, Wants and Paying it Forward”

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USMC Captain Runs Coast to Coast for Veterans

July 20, 2017
Maggie Seymour, Grassroots Supporter

One Marine. Coast to Coast. 100 Days.

I, Maggie Seymour, a U.S. Marine Corps Captain transitioning to the Reserves, am an avid ultra-runner on a mission. On July 22, I’ll embark on a 3,300 mile journey across the United States to give back and raise awareness for the communities that have supported me during my time in the U.S. Marine Corps.

I’m a small-town Midwestern girl at heart who believes in the power of hard work, education, community, and carbs (if I stop by your town be sure to grab me a slice of pizza). Over the past 10 years I have worked closely with the veteran, gold star families, and special needs athletes communities. This run is for them. Continue reading “USMC Captain Runs Coast to Coast for Veterans”

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The Allie behind the ReALLIEty Challenge

February 1, 2017
By Allie Ieyoub Davis, Grassroots Fundraiser screen-shot-2017-01-25-at-3-39-05-pm

Allie Ieyoub Davis is the owner of Project Fit and creator of the annual ReALLIEty Challenge in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Since 2012, participants have tackled a 3.5 mile obstacle course to raise over $26,000 for The Mission Continues. We are thrilled to share Allie’s story with you today.

My idea to create the ReALLIEty Challenge is a natural extension of my gym’s flagship program, Allie’s Bootcamp, a program I have led by former military officers. On bootcamp graduation day, we would create a mini-obstacle course that involved pushing trucks, running with buckets of water, and pulling firemen hoses. It amazed me to see the sense of pride on our recruits’ faces and to hear the excitement in their voices once they realized how much they had accomplished in six weeks. This program provided them with the tools needed to continue lifelong transformation! Continue reading “The Allie behind the ReALLIEty Challenge”