22Kill VCU Physical Therapy Students
The challenge: Do 22 pushups a day for 22 days. Video your workouts and post them online, all to help raise awareness of an alarmingly high incidence of suicide in American armed services veterans.
First-year students at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Allied Health Profession's Department of Physical Therapy took on the challenge.
It’s part of an ongoing effort of #22KILL, a Texas-based veterans advocacy movement that seeks to raise awareness of mental health issues and the high suicide rate of veterans, and also to educate the public about veterans issues, recruit veteran advocates and promote programs that empower veterans, according to its website.
The name is taken from a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs report from 2012 that found about 22 veterans committed suicide each day.
The class of 2019 was set to the task by the third-year students in the three-year program. The first-year students on Oct. 6 in turn issued a challenge to take up the cause to their peers in an interprofessional class, first-year students in nursing, dentistry, dental hygiene, nursing and occupational therapy, according to Gloria Han, a first-year-student in the physical therapy program from Edison, New Jersey.
“I think it’s a great cause,” she says. “The numbers are absolutely staggering.”
#22KILL started in 2013, with a goal of 22 million pushups. The counter is now at 35.5 million pushups and rising.
A report released in August 2016 by Veterans Affairs found that in 2014, an average of 20 veterans died each day by suicide, accounting for 18 percent of all adult suicides in the nation. A veterans is at a 21 percent greater risk of suicide than someone in the overall adult population.
The VA reports that in 2014, 65 percent of veterans who killed themselves were age 50 or older. Still, the suicide rate is highest in veterans aged 18-29, and lowest in veterans who are age 60 and older.
CAPSULES
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In the Pink
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and you can raise your awareness and enjoy some retail therapy, too, today at the Pink for a Purpose event at Short Pump Town Center. The event will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. and is presented with Bon Secours Cancer Institute, according to a release.
Drs. Misti Wilson and William Irvin Jr. will discuss health issues, and you can also enjoy wine tastings and appetizers. The event also will feature giveaways and raffles, including a $500 gift card prize. Admission is $25, which benefits the Bon Secours Richmond Health Care Foundation Cancer Fund. Tickets are available today at the door.
Over the Edge
Special Olympics Virginia will stage its final Over the Edge fundraiser Friday and Saturday, as rappelers who each raised at least $1,000 for the nonprofit will make their way down the 25-story SunTrust Center, 919 E. Main St.
Watch them from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. This is the eighth and final year for the event.
Free Dental Care
Several Richmond dental care providers have joined to provide free dental care to those in need on a first-come, first-served basis on Oct. 22.
The event is part of the Dentistry From the Heart program, which has provided about $8 million in free dental care since 2001, and will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at River Run Dental, 7820 Shrader Road. Other participating providers include Benco Dental, Colgate, Neil Agnihotri and Kanyon Keeney of Virginia Oral & Facial Surgery, Shane Costa of Costa Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, and Amanda Staton Images.
You can get a cleaning, a tooth extraction or a filling at no cost. You have to be age 5 or older. No appointments will be taken.
Light the Night
About 1,500 people are expected to participate in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's annual Light the Night fundraiser on Saturday at Gambles Hill Park.
Participants will walk with lighted lanterns, symbolizing beacons on hope and to spotlight the need for research and for helping people with blood cancers to have access to treatment, according to a release. Registration is at 5 p.m., and a ceremony follows at 6. The walk begins at 7 p.m.
Open Arms
Give yourself and your pup a workout at the Open Arms 5K Fun Run/Walk and Dog Jog on Saturday in Glen Allen.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at The Hamptons at Hunton Park, 3100 Stone Arbor Lane. It is a benefit for Open Arms, a nonprofit that provides living space for families who have to travel to receive medical treatment for a loved one. The registration fee is $25. Beer and brunch follow at the post-race party.
