The Military Service Center hosts its Third Annual 22 Pushup Challenge on Friday, Sept. 10, on the green between the Memorial Field House and the Veterans Memorial.
Scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the in-person event is to raise awareness of veteran suicide during National Suicide Awareness Month.
“Early on the challenge was to do 22 pushups a day for 22 days,” said Eric Buetikofer, UToledo director of military and veteran affairs. “Today we are simply asking our greater UToledo family to join the Military Service Center and the military-connected student population in helping us raise awareness of veteran suicide during National Suicide Awareness month by doing 22 pushups with us.”
Buetikofer said the 22 Pushup Challenge was introduced in 2011 following Veterans Administration’s finding that, on average, 22 veterans commit suicide every day.
“While this statistic is now hotly debated, what we do know is that the overall suicide rate for veterans is 1.5 times higher than that of civilians,” he said. “Among post 9/11 veterans between the ages of 18 and 35, the suicide rate is 2.5 times than that of all civilians.”
During the event, representatives from the Military Service Center, UToledo Counseling Center, Lucas County Veterans Service Commission and the Toledo Vet Center will be available to talk with anyone who would like more information on veteran suicide awareness.
For more information, email MSC@UToledo.edu.
