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VOL.35, NO.1
Vets pivot to serving community
JANUARY 2023
I N S I D E …
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MISSION CONTINUES
SEE SPECIAL INSERT Housing & Homecare Options following page 16 PHOTO BY JEFFREY BEALL
By Glenda C. Booth It took three days and a lot of sweat, but last September, 15 volunteers hauled 12,000 tires out of a wooded area in a National Park site in Washington, D.C. They also pulled out sinks, toilets, rusty pipes and other debris that had been illegally dumped in the city’s Fort Dupont community gardens. In addition, they’ve spread compost, prepared garden beds and cleaned chicken coops. They’ve built playground benches and pergolas, resurfaced seesaws, handed out food, and put flags on graves at Arlington National Cemetery. These are accomplishments of the devoted volunteers of the Washington, D.C., platoon of a nonprofit called The Mission Continues (TMC). Launched in 2007 by a group of veterans, TMC is a national organization of 4,000 veterans who volunteer for community projects in 40 U.S. cities every year. These men and women served their country in the armed forces and are still serving, by partnering with nonprofits and others focused on low-income communities. “We have skills, and we care,” said D.C. resident Darren Thompson, who served on U.S. Navy destroyers, aircraft carriers and relief ships in places like Norfolk, Virginia, and the Arabian Gulf. “We signed that blank check, and have that common thread in our lives — deployment and being a veteran.” Now retired from the Navy, Thompson works as a program analyst for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. In his non-work hours, Thompson volunteers for community projects. He has been the D.C.-area platoon leader for The Mission Continues since 2020. Thompson organizes one project every month, supervising 25 to 50 volunteers at each site. “We provide the bodies,” he said.
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The Mission Continues engages veterans to help out nonprofits in the communities where they live. Here two vets assist in an outdoor project. “The skills I acquired during my time in the military I can use for others,” said local U.S. Army veteran Flossie Lomax. Participants enjoy giving back, and at the same time strengthen their sense of purpose and connectedness.
He sees the work is a natural extension of his military service and an opportunity to be with other like-minded veterans. “I like to be around our brothers and sisters and others who want to do good works,” Thompson said. “We also want to show that we are not broken” men and women who struggle to return to civilian life after service in war zones (though there are some veterans who do).
Indeed, helping veterans rejoin society is one of the reasons the organization was created, according to its current president, Mary Beth Bruggeman. “The Mission Continues exists for the veterans — for the purpose, growth and connectedness they gain by continuing to serve in their communities right here at
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