The non-profit aimed to combat veterans suicide held a paintball event at Maine Military Supply in Holden on Saturday as part of its new recreation program.
HOLDEN, Maine — After years of serving veterans in the state by assisting with heating bills, roof building, and even vehicle donations, Maine Veterans Project (MVP) is getting active.
“The [MVP REC] program, especially after a very long pandemic winter is an incredibly important way to get people out of their houses and get them together,” MVP founder Doc Goodwin said.
Goodwin founded the organization in 2015 to help veterans in Maine, with a direct effort to reduce veteran suicide. Its newest program, MVP REC will sponsor outdoor and indoor events, like paintballing.
Veterans from all branches of the military and their guests divided into teams Saturday and explored the paintballing course at Maine Military Supply in Holden.
“I’m kind of hoping we do this once a month and we have hunting, fishing, rafting, paddling,” Goodwin said. “I mean we just want to launch onto any activity that’s out there and bring people together.”
Liam Kenny didn’t describe himself as an avid paintballer, but he was in attendance anyway.
Kenny was a Marine in Afghanistan for years and said when he returned to civilian life, he missed the connections he had with people as he had in the service.
“Something like this, just bringing people together, having that social interaction knowing you’re not alone you have people that care about you. It kind of brings you back to when you were in the military,” he added.
The next MVP REC event will be a Striper-Fly-Fishing Trip on the Saco River on June 23. More events can be found below:
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