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Learn About Our Mission and Vision
Our community-driven approach directly benefits veterans and their families through meaningful fundraising efforts.
Unique Fundraising Events
Veteran-Focused Initiatives
Strength Through Community
Strength Through Community
Ruck walks/ marches is a moment to participate in something bigger than ourselves. You’re not there for your health or something you feel obligated to do. You’re there because you need to be there. It’s a shared experience bringing awareness to veteran suicide prevention with friends and community. Most of all it’s sharing the joy, pain, memories. It’s sharing the miles.
Brothers coming together with a physical weight on our backs is a true reminder of what isn’t seen easily. The weight we bear of being provider, father, mentor and friend. On a Ruck one sees that we aren’t alone in what we face. We don’t have to bear our burden unseen. At the end as the weight comes off one sees that the struggles we face; we face together.
My Dad, Joe Zikewich a WW2 sailor aboard the Lexington air craft carrier had a vision, after watching his fellow ship mates being buried at sea. This vision became the PeaCoat Memorial. A memorial in which honors those men and all men who have buried at sea. I drive by this great Veterans Memorial weekly, I am reminded how my father and all the Lake Orions veterans have inspired so many.
The Orion Veterans memorial isn’t merely a collection of statues and plaques; it’s a living testament to the sacrifices made by those who defended our nation, and for me, it holds a deeply personal connection as my grandpa and other family members have served in various branches over the years.
The memorial is a place where stories are kept alive, where the true cost of freedom is acknowledged, and where the importance of their service to our great nation is perpetually honored, fostering a sense of community gratitude and historical awareness.
The memorial is a place where stories are kept alive, where the true cost of freedom is acknowledged, and where the importance of their service to our great nation is perpetually honored, fostering a sense of community gratitude and historical awareness.