Harold on 22 that take their life everyday

hey hey how is everybody doing today I am Stephanie Viva my guest today Harold skeleton from fishing for a mission 22. hi friends hey how you all doing thank you so much for coming and uh visiting us sure yeah so let everybody know what fishing for a mission is just so we can just start there so everyone knows who you are what we're talking about why you're here today awesome yeah so fishing for the mission 22 we're based out of Buzzards Bay Massachusetts uh we use a therapeutic approach to help veterans heal through fishing while raising awareness to the 22 a day that take their lives in this country it's a kind of a Public Health crisis that I think big time Community is going through yeah I've personally been dealing with this issue very recently and uh you hear it you go through the motions of your day you know what exists but when it's impacting you intimately it's it puts you in a different mind frame um what what made you start thinking about doing this as a mission for yourself uh well I guess this is kind of like my therapy now um I moved on uh fishing's definitely a therapeutic experience in itself but I've struggled for years I got out in 2010 on a medboard um and thank you for your service yeah thanks um and I was almost in the process of becoming a federal agent with the DEA uh and working on my PhD at uh Colorado Tech and Homeland Security functions and it kind of Hit me hard when I got medboarded it kind of detract everything that I've I did thus far and ruined my career um 2010 I actually tried to take my life to uh meds uh Medical Group thought it would be a good idea to send me home with a bunch of pills that I've never normally taken and anyone that has anything to do with anything service related that seems to be what they like to do and it's it's not because they don't care it's just kind of the protocol yeah so there's a bunch of medication and go home and even when I told him I wasn't right and I had maybe at this point but that's a story for another yeah right uh for for 10 years I kind of struggled back and forth and in 2016 I kind of had those feelings again but I was about to be a dad on my first you know my first son uh Harry the Harold IV as I you know which by the way I commend you on being a single dad of two small people which is no small feat in any shape or form to be able to get all of this done show up at all these interviews because you've been literally everywhere lately yeah just trying to get the mission out I mean you're doing amazing work but still like trying to maintain your regular day-to-day walking through the motions of being a dad that's crazy that's my number one mission in life is my kids I love it awesome and it's just a little bit of a issue right now that they are younger so it kind of prevents me from doing some of the things I would like to do but eventually they're going to be there's time for everything that's the point right we're making time we're making the space for the 22 that that are gone every day I mean this is the mission that you're showing up for your life right yeah but basically and I mean my kids are very much part of my organization they go to all the events and they love it so we have eventually pretty fun so yeah so so you you were put in a space where you know it wasn't working for you you're faced with being a dad and then and then what happens I guess I I got really back in the fishing in 2016. I kind of stopped feeling sorry for myself you know I was not doing the best you know things I mean I was just doing nothing really sitting in my basement wishing things would be different so I really got back in the Fishing Harbor everybody gets into the wall as me as though like that's part of life when you're in a down downward space and you're just like I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do with myself well I just thought I worked so hard almost 30s or almost 30 years to become a federal agent and when that was taken and medboarded hey I have a great pension but now I don't have any kind of career yeah what am I supposed to start over I know it's scary yeah so it was you yeah so I guess I was comfortable I had you know my pension and then I had my kids but um a situation in 2001 left me a single dad so uh I risked everything and said you know what I'm only I'm just something I kind of planned for years actually I would come down fishing by myself for hours at a time and just stare at the sky and say I know what do you mean you're not from around here with that fabulous uh Massachusetts accent no I'm from Holyoke exactly it's a very specific accent as soon as I heard you talk I was like I know this accent well but I remember college when I was first meet more the the East Eastern crowd they they used to call us the Hicks of Massachusetts yeah I guess that's maybe about people yeah I live right on Mount time almost see exactly but holyoke's a great place it is a very diverse uh community that I love and I'll be returning this you know next little later on I'll tell you what we'll be returning there in August for a couple cool events that's exciting yeah so talk to me about some of the events that you've organized now you've come full circle you're here you're in a better space mentally and now you want to give it back yeah so our next big event is the Spring Fling tournament and that's uh co-hosted with mako's Bait and Tackle which I know you know Eric and yeah and all those guys and that's a Quahog yeah they've done some great things to get this party started for us and uh got all the permits so we have the music half show we got three good bands but that takes place the weekend of June 2nd to the fourth and that's an onset onset and other co-host is mako's Bait and Tackle Jeff Hopwood has actually become a friend over you know the past year and has done tremendous things constantly for my non-profit um and it's good to have those friends I'm eating there it's so incredible what fishing and the community rings together I mean just because it is there is some big money stuff to it there is that excitement there is that competition 100 there are fish stories Galore and you know everyone's as bigger and better and this is the best but it really is a a community that you are putting together for positivity and I love putting a shine on organizations like yours and it's so overwhelming when you follow fishing for Mission 22 please do so on all of their social medias and and see what they're doing there's so much so the the Flyers you look at it you're like there's so many things yeah but what I can say is you include everyone from the kids to adults yeah there is um whether you like to just fish and quietly enjoy it there's the competition aspect there are some of the sleeker cooler fishing gear stuff that you showcase I mean you really do kind of think of every little piece of it yeah well I think one of the first things you notice about me is I'm a little faster paced I was just like oh my God there's so much like there's so much to digest in this space right here I don't even know where we're I'm like I'm gonna have Harold on but I don't I don't even know where to start because there's a lot so we do have a lot of Flyers so like the Spring Fling but I try I'm having a lot of opportunities across New England yeah we have two events back in Holyoke Mass which I can't wait to like I said I'm available travel for a good fishing weekend oh yeah so that's gonna be a catfish but we also incorporate and coincide a side event and that's a operation Wing Fest so we have some of the local wing uh doing wangs we have some pretty big celebrity guest judges to include John vilos that's cool and then the mayor Holyoke or Mr Mayor Garcia um we have uh Meg Sanders from Canada provisions and a few other um great celebrity guests to do yeah that's amazing so I kind of based these off the success I had a chowderfest uh in February the day before the soup Super Bowl at the stone path Mall which I've done quite a few events there now um but that was a great event so I kind of based these kind of like tastings and judgings and it's just fun it gets the community out and we sold that event out in two weeks and the thing about it is I want to get as many people together to spread that 22 a day because I hope that at least half of them go home and tell someone else so we can keep well maybe talk about that fact because I think we kind of glossed over what the actual mission of this and why it's so important for you well if you look at the stats and this is pretty con um you know through the VA and all that it's uh since the global war on terror started I believe yeah 2001 spent a little bit over 7 000 combat related deaths but in the same period you know we're talking almost 23 years over there we've had like 150 000 suicides uh and from our veterans so there's obviously uh something going on in our community that we yeah we need some extra care and maybe a different approach than what we have offers so fishing like I said is a huge therapeutic experience where you can be out in nature you're getting Sunshine with the throw of catching fish but my programs are more based to get in a community together so we do we're shooting for about 50 Charters to get veterans in our local community I love it this year we've been doing at mako's Bait and Tackle we've been doing free licenses on Fridays for veterans so amazing come get your license but by like the one thing that me like those are all the fun things I do for the community but my my like my my egg is the uh operation tackle 22 program we've been designing over the past year which is a mentorship kind of therapeutic and it's vocational so over the next year they're going to fish with Captain Aaron Briggs out of a cassette um amazing Outcast Outfitters um so they go out almost weekly we're gonna try to get them 300 to 400 hours that's I love it to go towards your C experience they learn tuna fishing about Maneuvers everything you need to know and then in the fall we send them the captain School very cool and hope that they've used that training to reintegrate back into a stable Workforce yeah for sure I know saved my life and like I said my kids and my fishing really is what gave me that next step to move out here I mean I moved here as a single dad not knowing a soul and I just woke up one day and sold the house and moved and got us a nice house on the canal so there's something to be said for the cape and the community that we build and we are always willing to help people and I think that's just part of fishing you know what I mean if you're stuck if you're in a boat I mean it's just kind of we're all like how can we help you that is the community that we already have so I think that that's why you found it so welcoming here because we we really do help each other I mean we're we're an island yeah so you have to help each other I'm on the split of the island I live like by uh on the Bourne Rodeo by weyhill so yeah I'm right down there so oh Benny I don't know I guess I'm still in a cave I can see the cars if anyone ever need to try that's the gateway to the cape let us know pretty much see people's heads going over the bridge yeah I love the spot where a two minute walk to the camera I love that you you found your mission there and then you found a way to to take your time and I've got friends that are boat captains that are always looking for captains that are always looking that I have a friend that runs his own Charter and he's always looking for people to Captain his boats because he needs to freaking break oh no that's the thing like when they get their their 100 ton or whatever we send them for the schools that that would be something they do in the off season in the winter um but they can do so much more than this Captain a boat we can get that's a rich I'm gonna hook you up with this gentleman right here how old and you will be friends yeah so this week as it's I'm not the scheduling is always my hardest part so this week I reached out to a lot of the non-profits on the cape a couple in the Wareham and all the Brockton Outreach centers I know a bunch of those guys so we've been getting the schedule ready to get our guys started uh on the water so we pretty much almost have a trip three months three of trips a month right now wow almost have all the slots filled so I still have a few left so if anyone veterans listening please uh contact me through like my website fishing for themission22.org send me an email and we'll get you slotted on some of the yeah I still have slots and I'm gonna I'm gonna drop your information in the chat afterwards just so that people can find you and I I think it's just so important and not just because Memorial Day is coming up uh I'm gonna be over at um our national cemetery and I'm I'm the host of this year of Memorial Day ceremonies oh it's cool I know so that's that's really exciting I just want everyone out there that is a veteran that is retired or maybe you're in a space where you're just not thinking that there are so many opportunities especially here on the cape for our veterans and if you know someone that's not asking for help because most veterans will never ask for help most veterans will never go out of their way to seek being helped to step out of your comfort zone and to reach out to them and just show them that there are opportunities for them so many opportunities and to take advantage of those opportunities because I know most of them won't yeah that's just the way it is yeah we're stubborn I think yeah for sure and that's one of the things about our program we design it is because one of the hardest parts I guess about getting out is we we're we're like brothers and sisters in the military the camaraderie that's what we miss and we're we're we're all part of a team especially if you're in combat field and when they just kind of say you're not good enough and you know they medboard you or your time's up you go from being you know on a team to an individual and that's tough but it is super scary and that's when why when me and Aaron Briggs designed our program we said let's just go to the top tuna and Marlon uh the big trip of the year I forgot to mention is we actually take these guys out to the Canyons which is about 120 miles offshore to the continental divide or with shelf yeah yeah so that's that's a trip of a lifetime so cool yeah they go overnight too so uh that's their big like kind of like you know after they train all year they get to go out and really super exciting skills yeah so all right so Spring Fling is coming up there's still an opportunity to get involved you can get signed up and there are things for kids to do yes I make all my events and like I said we're talking about suicide I think it's something that the whole family needs to know and we need to stop the stigmas and stop you know it needs to be aware that this is a problem not just in the veteran Community but I think a lot overall period yeah mental health is a huge issue here that we need to to tackle and you don't have to be a veteran to sign up for your tournaments everyone's welcome sign up and win some money your prizes are huge so we almost have 8 400 and guaranteed prizes we have a men's female uh and a junior division with all equal prizes for let's go Cape Anglers where are you we're looking for you yeah the grand prize is 2 000 so we have pretty good signups right now but we have a big party planned at the Quahog and onset at the waterfront Eatery and that's going to be from about one to five one to six but we have three good actually they're mudslides are what I like oh they're so good too I know they're they're fabulous yeah we took my mom there for Mother's Day right there so yeah we had a great meal their food's amazing yeah it is I was mad because they had the buffalo buffalo shrimp last weekend I just stopped in for a beer on my break and uh they already they took them away and I hate that I know especially like when you got a good egg roll too and then all of a sudden it's missing off the menu yeah it's not fair put those things on for the cream yeah so yeah we have a good day there today we have the whole park to ourselves the half shell for all the bands it is a lot of fun over there if you've never been to the onset in the half shell area it is super fun family friendly and uh this tournament raises money for near and dear to my heart things that Harold is doing right now and you've been on every single news Outlet known to man so I'm like where is he now he's on this channel channel seven channel ten channel I'm like all right he's all over the place so thank you for making time to stop on by my little baby studio and uh promote your stop I appreciate it very much this is my first uh like real fun one I get to actually just relax have a conversation get to talk to people yeah right you totally you're allowed to yeah good morning Mari thank you CJ for checking in we've got a lot of people saying hello to you and appreciating your mission so we really do anything else you want to say about the organization well yeah one more thing to say about Spring Fling even if you don't fish you can come to our party it's actually a public event we don't charge so like I said we're kind of a Grassroots minded nonprofit we really want to spread the awareness so more people that can come and enjoy the music and you know take care of you know there'll be all the food menu like uh the Quahog too but yeah to the 20th to sign up to still receive the t-shirt and meal any but you can have the June 1st to actually sign up but you just you know we have to have our numbers in so after the 20th there's no more t-shirt and meal available so well then they're just gonna have to wait because you've got another tournament summer is here and I think everybody's ready so I I got any good fishing tips or anything for anybody you think I you think I would fish a lot having a non-profit fishing I haven't even got my line wet this thing seriously I haven't even touched my run that stinks no but you know this is kind of like fishing used to be my throw but now this is like I don't know this is like my my new throw and yeah I can't even believe some of the sponsors we had for the Spring Fling that's awesome good morning Dan good morning Ron thank you guys so much for joining us and we hope you have a great weekend and maybe maybe this will be the weekend that you get to go fish no no I got to go to Connecticut uh to accept a really generous donation from eversource at the yearly Rodeo so that's so exciting yeah just not to drive but yeah no nobody likes that drive but I'll drop the kids at my parents so on the way so yeah I don't I don't suggest anybody go out there and drive this weekend in the Boston area Taylor Swift we've got the Celtics and then we've got uh what's the other one Janet Jackson like it's like a perfect storm of a nightmare of driving this weekend not interested I'll be out in the hickville so it doesn't matter if you're going the opposite direction you're better throwing my beard back for the mountains dad said Dad's checking in with us from Iowa he said fishing here is really it sucks no but I'm pretty sure people get mad but I mean the fish and I do work at a bait shop too but the fishing has been absolutely lights out and Buzzards Bay Cape Cod Bay I know the canal I live right on the canal so I I know my I know it's been on real fish and so anyone that wants to venture out well I don't know tomorrow I think is looking a little right yeah but I've got some of my biggest fish in Hurricane so but no the fishing's good fishing's I give it an a right now there's some big fish in the canal and you hit the right Tides right part of the mornings you should do pretty well fishing for a mission 22 make sure you follow them on all the social medias sign up for a tournament make a donation maybe you make lures maybe do something cool in the fishing Community bring some other people to this Mission because it really it takes a village to make this happen and we're really going to just benefit people in the mental health area and uh think about it 22 people every single day it's horrible and you know even when we first met I mean one of the first things you said it's something that you've had to deal with in in the past couple of months not even not even years I mean it's getting seems like it just we're going up and the numbers are not going down so I don't understand why and that's something I don't think we're gonna know no I know I know well there's a lot of there's a lot of blame it's like a Three Stooges situation going on right now but unfortunately if you'll get the politics part of it yeah I stayed I stay out of that lane we're just raising money and trying to help people yeah just to get these guys fishing so that's one of our big things we'll go with New England Medical Group too and they're going to actually start doing referrals they got the Tricare and the VA certifications from my organization so we can actually send some of these guys that maybe we're gonna you know we're kind of Designing our own therapeutic uh fishing uh kind of program so I love that yeah so they got we got the first big step done so we actually got the certification so now we can set them there so they can use their benefits that's it because if you streamline things for people it makes it a lot easier for them to accept the help that they desperately need yeah it's like here you go it's all done for you just show up and that's kind of where we do this one step yeah why we do the fishing trips because I try to do a lottery system almost where we're pairing veterans up that might not know each other and the reason I do that is because I feel like it's going to maybe help build a community where these guys can switch numbers afterwards and have their own people because one of the hardest things is making friends because people think we're different I mean I mean it changed me I mean I'm a lot more the anxiety and uh the hyper vigilance and all that I guess is I'm a little bit more jumpy than especially when I drink coffee it's something I'm always like I'm still doing it I try to work on through meditations but um I know a VA just likes to shove us on medicines and unfortunately I'm not taking anything away from the VA because they help me tremendously from 2006 and they do their best it's not a blanket there's not a blanket therapy unfortunately that just here you go here's the pill that fixes it it's not we're not there yeah well if we're losing 120 000 or 150 000 or whatever that stat is from just 23 years of war imagine though guys that aren't reaching out and the guys that they weren't counting that were um doing maybe suicide like I tried with pills because we weren't counting those words counting those as maybe ODS and they're right they're not ODS in many situations yeah that's something we're starting to recognize now and the va's done some great things and now we can have our access we can go to like New England medical groups or energy Healthcare and a few of the other ones I'm going to start collaborating with to get referrals where these guys can get a additional help and not have to wait three months to get an appointment and I'm like I said I'm not taken away from anything it's just it's just hard because there's a lot of us that need help right now yeah there's not a lot of help for us and you know so that's it the more we talk about it and the more you spread that the more people are going to be able to reach out and uh just get themselves out that they need we're here to help so reach out to us uh any place in particular you more on Facebook a little bit of Instagram go online he's doing his best we can't do all of the things all of the time no I do pretty well I do pretty well on Facebook you do you do it seems every month it's doing better I get about 120k now a follower uh you know clicks on on a woman yeah it's important to get the mission out and people need to know where to go absolutely and that's good that you're building that Community because if you've got a friend that you can trust it's better than having to work for it because if you got to work for it you're more likely to just not and unfortunately that's just the way it is yeah it's uh surprisingly you would think it would be easy to get rid of some of these trips and like I said any veterans listening or and you know pass the word along if you're gonna be doing some veteran singing on Memorial Day is hey this guy is trying to schedule some more uh you know efficient for the missions we're trying to schedule so and uh yeah so go fishing go fishing it's fun it's a free trip because we're going to give you guys a t-shirt at the end and then uh like I said the guy's in the program one of my other big partners for our our sponsor co-hosts for the uh sprinklings GW Customs Glenn he's like kind of one of the first mentors I had here he builds your eyes out of Wareham but we're gonna get you know the guys that graduate our program will get any ride they want built free to uh questions it's just amazing how the community comes together for this and I love it fishing for a mission 22 make sure you follow them everywhere we will talk to you have a great weekend Harold thank you so much for your time today thank you and yep let's go fishing see you out there