Sit Rep
Barbells For Bullies presents an online fitness competition to raise money and awareness for
Veterans and organizations that pair shelter dogs with them as therapy and service animals!
Where:
Participate from anywhere! You can do these workouts from your CrossFit box, home gym, globo-gym or on base!
When:
June 2023
Why:
Sit Rep is an initiative from Barbells For Bullies to benefit organizations that pull shelter dogs and trains them up to be service or therapy dogs for veterans.
Moreover, Sit Rep is a platform to bring awareness to the situations that challenge veterans and pit-bull type dogs. Sadly, we lose one active soldier a day due to war, but we lose an average of 20 veterans a day to suicide (Source). It's also estimated that over 1.2 million dogs are euthanized in the US each year, over half of them being pit-bull type dogs (Source). Both of these numbers are unacceptable.
Sitrep (n) - a report on the current military situation in a particular area
Sit Rep is a platform to bring awareness to situations that challenge veterans and pit-bull type dogs.
Sadly, we lose one active soldier a day due to war, but we lose on average of 20 veterans a day to suicide. It's also estimated that over 1.2 million dogs are killed in shelters each year, most of them pit bull type dogs.
These numbers are unacceptable.
We will be doing another iteration of Sit Rep, this time in June 2023.
Since December 2019 we've donated over $15,800 to organizations that help pair veterans with service dogs.
Competition
This event will consist of just one workout that can be done from anywhere, and 4 divisions.
In addition to an online competition, for gyms/individuals that want to do more, you can create a peer to peer fundraising page and gyms/teams can make an even bigger impact!
This will be a multi-faceted event with an online competition format as well as a team fundraising format. HERE are some team leader best practices.
Facts, Stats, and Research
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Research suggests that service dogs improve veterans’ physical and psychological health, provide a coping resource and a form of social support, and support sustaining their independence. Source
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Highly trained service dogs have been suggested to help mitigate the physical and psychological challenges veterans face (Krause-Parello, Sarni, & Padden, 2016). It has also been suggested that, as a species, the dog’s non-judgmental demeanor and the reciprocity of the human–canine relationship has potential to assist veterans during times of uncertainty (Krause-Parello et al., 2016). Source
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Health care costs for veterans with PTSD are 3.5 times higher than costs for those without the disorder.Source
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Female veterans are at a higher risk of PTSD. According to one study, during 2002–2003, approximately 22% of screened female veterans reported military sexual trauma (MST), a term adopted by the VA to refer to sexual assault or repeated threatening sexual harassment that occurred while the veteran was in the military.Source
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In 2016, the suicide rate was 1.5 times greater for Veterans than for non-Veteran adults, after adjusting for age and gender. Source
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The suicide rate for Veterans ages 18–34 increased substantially, from 40.4 suicide deaths per 100,000 population in 2015 to 45 suicide deaths per 100,000 population in 2016. Source
Healing4Heroes™ is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to assisting our military service members and veterans lead healthy, productive lives. Our objective is to connect wounded service members, as well as those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, with A.D.A. compliant service dogs. Healing4Heroes™ has dual purposes in that it serves the community by helping military personnel and veterans as well as local animal shelters by rescuing suitable dogs.
Our military personnel and veterans, after being wounded both physically and mentally, are able to move forward and live more productive lives with the assistance of service animals.
AMRAPS: As Many Rescues As Possible
Our goal, as an organization, is to help AMRAP: As Many Rescues As Possible. Whether it's small rescues organizations around the US or rescue pups in need, we're here to help as many as we can. Regardless of breed, age, or location, we exist to fight for the underdog, and want to create a fit and socially conscientious community that rallies around rescue. Whether it involves a barbell or not, if it's about fitness and community, count us in.
We're here to make a difference, and let you know we all can make a difference. One random act of kindness at a time.