Today we’d like to introduce you to David Campisano.
Hi David, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I served 16 years in the Army. I was discharged in 2016 and came home to Boston where I grew up. I immediately went to college to earn a degree in finance and hopefully make a lot of money in wealth management.
In 2020 I heard that 2 of my close friends from the Army died by suicide and decided to start 22Mohawks… it started with me posting a Mohawk on social media to bring awareness to veteran suicide and invited others to join me by getting Mohawks and posting them… I ended up with over 30 Mohawks in less than a week. Because of the large following, I decided to create a parachute event which was a huge success. The event filled up and created an even larger following so I made the call to create a website and offer services.
The largest is my “pups for vets” program the pairs rescue puppies with veterans. We’ve paired 31 veterans as of this writing. Now we have our dog program, our local tandem parachute jump, our week-long retreat in Dunnellon, Fl to parachute and take suicide awareness classes, financial classes, book club, monthly veteran meets, and quarterly fundraising events.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s organically grown to what it is today. There are ups and downs like any new company but it’s been fairly smooth as far as that. But the struggle is when we see more and more names of veterans that die by suicide. Many names come across my desk every week. And it is very sad.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a full-time financial advisor at Ivy Capital. I have been in this field for 6 years and work at a 7 personnel financial planning practice. We specialize in planning with folks in private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, and transitioning military.
I am most proud of the development of my nonprofit 22Mohawks. We are saving lives with this mission. I have had many veterans write to me or say in person that I have saved their lives and that they had planned to take their own life but found 22Mohawks.
We are set apart because of our willingness to take action and be there for others. We do this regardless of having time, money, or personnel. We make it happen no matter what.
What’s next?
Our goal is to become a national organization that brings awareness and prevention strategies for veteran suicide. By 2025 we want to have 10 parachute jumps in every state on the same day as “jumping for veteran suicide prevention”
Our next 2 big events are the BFIT Challenge on Feb 5. We were invited by the Boston Bruins to receive charitable donations by climbing stairs at the Boston Garden. We are actively creating teams to climb stairs and raise money for us.
Our second big event is “Operation Heart of Stone” February 19-26 in Dunnellon, Fl. We fly 20 veterans to attend a 6-day static line parachuting course as well as attend mental health sessions, surveys, and suicide prevention classes.
Pricing:
- Dog and lifetime training – $2500
- 1 jumper at Dunnellon, Fl $1500
- Suicide Awareness class $800
- 1 tandem jumper $300
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.22mohawks.com
- Instagram: @22mohawks
Image Credits
David Campisano
