On June 27-28, police officer and veteran Jeff Benaim and a community of supporters covered 133 miles from Montauk, New York, to Manhattan in 38 hours.
Benaim, president and founder of Project Patriot 22, organized the run to raise awareness and funds for veteran and first responder mental health. He said the effort had raised more than $10,000, with first responders, veterans, runners and families joining for portions of the route.
“It was truly a team effort and community effort,” Benaim wrote following the run. “When times got tough, I would think about each person I got to meet, as well as the ones who messaged us. It was the community that kept me going.”
Before becoming a police officer, Benaim worked as a correctional officer for 10 years. He founded Project Patriot 22 in part to honor one of his first correctional officer partners, who died by suicide.
The run, he said, was a reminder to veterans and first responders that support exists both within their professions and in the communities they serve.
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