Cadets Paddle Length of Mississippi for Veterans

Cadets Adrian Shanahan and James Callan set out in a canoe in early June and encouraged people to donate to a GoFundMe page set up in support of their efforts, according to The 22 Project. They paddled from Lake Itasca, in Minnesota, to the Gulf of Mexico during their leave from the academy, which ended in August. “These 2,320 miles will be dedicated to the men and women who have put our great nation above themselves,” Shanahan and Callan wrote on the GoFundMe page. They asked for donations of $0.22 for every 100 miles, which amounts to about a $5 donation for the entire voyage. The page has collected more than 100 donations and nearly $12,000 as of early September. “It certainly does help our veterans to know that people care about them,” Alex Cruz, co-founder of The 22 Project, said in a statement. “If everyone did a little, we could really make a difference to our veterans who are struggling right now.” The 22 Project is named after a statistic released by the Department of Veterans Affairs that finds 22 veterans on average commit suicide each day. Read More