WE GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS MELINDA KLEEHAMER Melinda Kleehamer first encountered The Mission Continues at a service project organized by her employer Goldman Sachs in 2012. Melinda remembers, “I was working away under the hot sun with a 12 year veteran of the Marines and when she learned I worked for Goldman Sachs, she thanked me so sincerely for tickets to an event we’d previously provided. I was so humbled to receive that kind of gratitude from a woman who had bravely served our country that I committed on the spot to sponsor a Fellow every year. I am based in Chicago and in my second year of sponsorship, The Mission Continues paired me with a Fellow who by total chance was serving their fellowship at the same hospice in Rochester, NY that was currently caring for my dying mother. And from that serendipitous match, I knew our relationship was meant to be.” Melinda has directly impacted the transformation of seven Fellows since her introduction to The Mission Continues. By being a Fund-AFellow donor, Melinda is part of a network of individuals welcoming home our veterans across the nation with appreciation for all they have done and still want to do.
BRYAN SZALWINSKI Team Mission Continues is the grassroots fundraising arm of The Mission Continues. Through the Marine Corps Marathon, Chicago Marathon, and individual fundraising efforts, they raised over $150,000. The 2016 Marine Corps Marathon raised over $40,000; leading the effort was Bryan Szalwinski. For the third time, Bryan has conquered the 26.2 miles with Team Mission Continues while active duty as a physician in the Air Force training other Air Force doctors, nurses and medics at a unique civilian/military partnership program at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. He is dedicated to continuing his service and knows his efforts with The Mission Continues will benefit veterans while they transition out of active duty. Since 2013, Bryan has raised over $17,000 for The Mission Continues and in 2016, he raised over $5,000.
“I’m inspired by the dedication of the people I work with and the sacrifice of those we treat and want to make sure they get every chance of success when no longer in the military.” — Bryan Szalwinski 15