Created in 2003, the Wounded Warrior Project had been a small organization which had grown steadily over the last 20 years. At the start they had assisted with small comfort items to the hospital bedside for veterans returning from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Today they have become one of the largest nonprofit veteran charities. Though their past has been rocky with previous leadership, they have since made efforts to rectify their staffing and grow from their previously tarnished reputation under new management; working to regain their reputation as a charity with the goal to fight to help veterans.

“Wounded Warrior Project doesn’t just help with one aspect of a Warrior’s life; it’s very well rounded. It’s not just handing out money. They are a hand up, not a handout.”

WOUNDED WARRIOR
– Sean Karpf

While there are many charities that assist veterans across all time periods, John Melia realized that there were no charities to support veterans wounded in the events directly following September 11th, 2001. As a result, Melia, a Marine and Wounded Warrior himself, created the Wounded Warrior Project out of Roanoke, Virginia, to originally help in whatever ways he could, including purchasing personal hygiene items, clothing, and CD players to hospitalized veterans. From there, the charity grew to eventually become one of the largest in the United States.

The stream for the Wounded Warrior Project is to help raise funds for them to assist veterans. These funds help veterans with mental health, career assistance, and outreach to veterans struggling with the lasting wounds of war. In today’s world, many are struggling to maintain their mental health. The Wounded Warrior Project is dedicated to getting veterans the resources needed to assist them.

We are streaming for WWP to promote awareness for, not just the Wounded Warrior Project, but also the mental health crisis we are currently experiencing with our veterans. Most of the games for the stream are shooter related games. These actually do tend to help some veterans come back to reality with mental health illnesses as some are unable to separate their current reality stateside from their time overseas. We will be streaming nonstop for 24 hours to show our commitment to seeing our goal of raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project.

It is easy to say that if we did not have many of our Wounded Warriors today, we might be speaking a different language in the United States; a poignant statement to some. What many struggle to realize however is what that would mean for all the advances and freedoms we enjoy today. We hope to give back to those that have given so much for our safety, freedom, and prosperity stateside and to give thanks for those still with us that continue to struggle with the lasting wounds of their service.