PACIFIC NORTHWEST VETERANS HOCKEY FOUNDATION

Our nation has placed the challenges we face on the international stage largely on the shoulders of our volunteer military. Yet when they return from service and enter the civilian world, many are left to their own devices from a civilian population that largely ignores the sacrifice these brave men and women have made.

There are approximately 18 million veterans in our country with:
- An estimated 11% of homeless population are veterans despite only being 6.4% of the population
- 1.3M veterans have a substance abuse disorder
- In 2020 the Veteran suicide rate was 31.7 per 100,000 - 12.6 per 100,000 for non-veteran U.S. adults (more than 2.5 times)

The Pacific Northwest Veterans Hockey Foundation was created to help veterans in the region address the many challenges they face when leaving military service. Our foundation aims to reverse those troubling trends. Through the sport of hockey and its amazing community in our area, we bring veterans together to give them an opportunity to meet and bond with others in the area, become physically active, and join a community that is there to support them and give them a foundation to thrive.

Our goals start with growing a community that any veteran can join and know that the world they come from is represented by those around them. We wrap our community around hockey because that time on the bench, in the locker room, on the ice…all of it being with other veterans, grants them all a foundation in the region. At the same time, we are enabling more access through programs that bring the sport closer to more veterans, as well as raising awareness that hockey can be a vehicle to overcome the stress of returning to civilian life.