I did all three 100 Mile Walks for Hope. I served as an Army medic during the war in Vietnam, then worked with children and young people all my life. I write a monthly Sun Post column to keep the world safe for children, gardening and storytelling, so I was always pleased that my Walk for Hope registration went for the Legion Veterans & Children Foundation. When I wrote about it, I also always encouraged folks to support the Veteran Resilience Project (VRP). VRP started in 2015 to make EMDR trauma therapy available to anyone in Minnesota who served. Bessel van der Kolk, trauma therapist who helped lead the drive to get PTSD recognized as a need, has long said EMDR is best for most with trauma, but it has generally not been available to veterans unless they found and paid for it themselves. I knew about it and did that because my wife started VRP.

Now I'm doing the same thing with the 250 Challenge, going for 250 or more units in all three areas: fitness, wellness and service. I belong to Post 550 in Bloomington, Minn., so am encouraging Legion members to either sign up themselves or donate to the Legion fund. Paul Hassing, a past department commander, also belongs to Post 550 and is part of the Legion Riders, also raising money for the Veterans & Children Foundation. He may outrank me, but either way money gets raised and members get healthier. And again, for my list outside the Legion I'm encouraging support for the Veteran Resilience Project. The 100 Mile Walks for Hope were a brilliant way to get many to address physical fitness seriously. The 250 Challenge carries the same brilliance to encourage total fitness, physical, mental and emotional.