By Sara Escobar
Correspondent

Local members of the community are partnering together to advocate for the prevention of Veteran suicides. Frank Cash, in association with the non-profit and Veteran founded organization “22 UNTIL NONE” are working to help veterans in any way possible. 22 UNTIL NONE works to hold events for veterans as well as provide emergency financial assistance, VA benefits help, wellness services along with a 24/7 crisis hotline. Cash began a Fort Hood chapter alongside the association to bring awareness to the high rate of veteran suicide and hopes to help out his fellow brothers and sisters who have served.
Veterans have a 50% higher suicide rate than those who have never served in the military. It is a startling statistic—with over 8,000 veteran suicides a year. Cash says he wants to foster supportive relationships through the community that will help veterans—and he holds a workout session three times a week at Purser Family Park in Harker Heights to do just that. Cash holds the event on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9 to 10 a.m., with each day targeting a specific muscle group. There is also a 22-mile walk taking place at the park on June 26 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in order to honor and remember the servicemen and women that have been lost to suicide.
“It’s not just a statistic,” says Cash, “These people made an impact, and they should be remembered.” He went on to say these sort of events are free because he wants to help others save money, and to further bring the community together. Cash served 27 years in the army and says, “Human connection is better than any type of medicine,” Cash also works with homeless veterans in the area and assists with making breakfast for veterans at a nursing home nearby.
Cash was energetic as he began to encourage and instruct the small group that attended on a sunny Friday morning. He exuded a humble, yet inspiring energy that made the people participating want to push themselves even harder. One of the attendees, Alicia Hunter, says her late husband served in the Air Force and she was happy to be a part of the cause, “It’s awesome to offer this sort of support to help raise awareness for our servicemen and women, and it helps me get in shape, too,” Hunter said.
In fact, all of those who attended the workout session either served in the military, or had family or spouses who served. Aside from enjoying the physical challenge, everyone seemed to be passionate about spreading awareness in the prevention of veteran suicide. Cash says his vision for the future is to have a bench in each park dedicated to those who have lost loved ones to suicide.
Cash will continue to hold workouts three times a week at Purser Park until August 26. For more information on how to get involved with this great cause and help spread the word, visit www.22untilnone.org.

CORRECTION: This story was originally misattributed to Lindsay Starr Platt.