Warfighter Outfitters, Inc. Is Latest Wounded Warrior Project Grant Recipient
WWP Alumnus Brett Miller Helps Wounded Veterans Through Outdoor Excursions
Jacksonville, Fla. (September 10, 2015) – Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) Alumnus Brett Miller’s organization Warfighter Outfitters, Inc. is the latest WWP Program Grants recipient with an award of $20,000. WWP Program Grants helps support various organizations that provide programming that meets the needs of wounded servicemen and women in rural, underserved areas of the country with limited WWP services.
Miller, a U.S. Army veteran, founded Warfighter Outfitters, Inc. in 2013 as a nonprofit organization for wounded and disabled combat veterans. His organization’s philosophy emphasizes veterans helping veterans through free fishing and outdoor hunting excursions. Miller, who is also a WWP peer mentor, serves veterans in a remote area.
Since 2012, WWP Program Grants has held two annual grant cycles to support the increasing number of returning wounded veterans and their reintegration needs. Miller, whose 2005 deployment to Iraq left him with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), saw a unique opportunity to help fellow injured service members through the camaraderie and bonding offered by two of his own interests: hunting and fishing.
“Once I was discharged, I began my passions of hunting and fishing, started inviting other vet buddies along and noticed the healing factor of these trips,” Miller said. “The demand for the trips grew and grew and eventually became very costly. So after years of paying out of pocket, I started the nonprofit Warfighter Outfitters, Inc.”
Miller says he is proud of his full-time commitment to getting injured veterans outside and engaged. “There is a very casual atmosphere that allows an open forum to discuss the issues at hand,” said Miller. Warfighter Outfitters provides participating injured veterans with adaptive vehicles that allow everyone – despite ability level – to engage in the hunting activities that are so popular in the Northwest.
The Warfighter Outfitters, Inc. board of directors is comprised exclusively of veterans and employs volunteer staff. All contributions to the organization go to its programs. “Warfighter Outfitters is successful mainly due to a large part of the west coast that is essentially barren of activities,” said Miller. “Veterans in the Pacific Northwest really enjoy the trips we provide; they are very popular with Alumni. We even had guys travel from states way out of the region to go on our events.”
WWP invests in organizations that focus on enriching the lives of injured veterans through an array of programs that seek to improve mental health and wellness; expose wounded service members to new opportunities for physical fitness and activity; connect wounded service members with their peers and communities; and enhance economic empowerment and independence.
About Wounded Warrior Project
The mission of Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. WWP’s purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.
Contact: Amanda Jekowsky, public relations senior specialist
Email: ajekowsky@woundedwarriorproject.org
Phone: 904-625-8255