Philly Phrogs
Team Philly Phrogs has been paired with Veterans Count. Veterans Count is the philanthropic arm of Easterseals Military & Veterans Services (MVS) and provides critical and timely financial assistance and services when no other resource is available to service members, veterans and their families, to ensure their dignity, health and overall well-being.
It All Began with this Question: “How Can We Help Service Members and Their Families?” Veterans Count was developed in 2007 as a result of Easterseals’ Board Member Mike Salter’s desire to bring comprehensive, emergency aid to active military and their families whose quality of life was significantly impacted by deployment to war zones. At the time, Easterseals approached the NH Joint Force Headquarters and the NH Department of Health and Human Services for assistance in designing what their vision was: a compassionate, responsive, highly-targeted care program for service members and their families who were “falling through the cracks,” as a result of service to their country.
Easterseals developed a Care Coordination model centered on highly-skilled clinicians meeting one-on-one with service members and their families to address critical issues while building trust and working toward developing long-term self-sufficiency. Care Coordinators met the immediate presenting needs such as food, shelter, transportation and mental health intervention. Once a trusting relationship was established, Care Coordinators were then able to address deeper issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, sustainable employment, and long-term housing.
Fast forward to the present, and what began as a small committee centralized in Manchester, NH, has grown to five chapters located throughout the state—Manchester (2007), Nashua (2012), the Seacoast (2012), the Lakes Region (2014), and most recently the Upper Valley (2018), as well as an Executive Committee. Together, there are more than 80 chapter members who help raise funds and spread awareness for MVS.
Veterans Count and Easterseals have received the highest praise and support from our national and local elected officials and are viewed as a comprehensive and successful model to emulate throughout the country. Since inception, more than 16,000 individuals have been served. Philanthropic dollars, totaling more than $4 million, have been distributed to provide financial support that may include food, utilities, housing, transportation, fuel, and vehicle repair.
All money raised by this team will go to Veterans Count.
Swim With A Mission
The 4th Annual Swim With A Mission, an Open Water Swim Race and Festival was scheduled for Saturday, July 11th at Wellington State Park in Bristol NH. Unfortunately due to COVID-19 we have shifted our event to a Virtual Event. We would much rather have our live event and are disappointed about the change but we know that it is necessary at this point. Even in these tough times, we hope you will help us stay true to our mission to raise money to help Veterans and inspire others to help.
Virtual Events are open to everyone and will take place from July 1-31. Participants can choose to swim (1K, 5K or 10K), paddle (1K, 5K or 10K) or take on the SEAL Team NH Challenge. All participants are encouraged to raise funds that will go to our Veterans who need our help more than ever. Swimmers can also choose to swim more than once during the month of July and they will be able to record distances and times. Go to www.swimwithamission.org for more details.
Swimming With A Mission Inc.
Since our formation in 2017, we have donated over $8 million to honor and support local, regional and national veteran support organizations that provide critical services to our Veterans. These include supporting Veteran organizations that provide housing, take care of our homeless, support day to day services, provide service and support K-9’s, scholarships, jobs, create equine immersion programs and support art programs. Please explore www.swam.org to get more details about how you can get involved with us and our mission.