Electricity buzzed through the air at Troy Park in Elkridge, MD as Shootout for Soldiers geared up to kick off it’s eighth annual year of SFS Baltimore.
Shootout for Soldiers has become a staple event in Baltimore as players return from previous years to raise money and have fun in it’s eighth year. Also returning were Towson Head Coach Shawn Nadelen and Maryland HC John Tillman as the Active Duty/Veterans Game coaches.
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This year local charity partners Catch a Lift Fund, The Baltimore Station and VetLinks will receive a portion of the fundraising from the event. The Catch a Lift Fund “has helped thousands of post 9/11 combat wounded veterans regain their mental and physical health through gym memberships, in home gym equipment, personalized fitness and nutrition programs and a peer support network.” The Baltimore Station is “an innovative therapeutic residential and outpatient treatment program supporting veterans who are overcoming obstacles to regain self-sufficiency.” VetLinks boasts a mission of “bridging the VA mental health care gap for veterans with PTSD” by connecting “veterans, families, and caregivers to post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury alternative treatment programs and resources.”
“It was an honor to watch the veterans play, and then eat dinner with them at the veterans hangout with dinner sponsored by MissionBBQ. It was an honor to have 1000 lacrosse players, over 100 volunteers (referees, trainers, field support, individuals and howard county staff) come out and help run the event,” said SFS Baltimore Organizer Andrew Manos. “We were fortunate to have sponsor donations to help make the event great from Kelly Services, Pepsi, US Lacrosse, the DJs, the Maryland Food Truck Association, Pizza Hut, JDog [Junk Removal Services], Outdoor Architects, 3Tech Staffing, and GOALS Baltimore, and others. The Howard County Recreation and Parks team has been an amazing partner with the top notch Troy Park location and staff to make the event run smooth. And, ultimately, we helped the community to engage, become more educated, and amplify the challenges and needs of our veterans. We raised almost $100,000 that will directly help our veterans and their families.”
This year’s Top Fundraiser, Dave Burton, raised almost $3,000 making him the winner of a custom Cascade Maverik x Shootout for Soldiers helmet. Burton played in the Active Duty/Veterans Game and helped make them the Top Fundraising Team with a total of $6,043.
As for the “Keep Your Jerseys” contest, our SFS Baltimore winners were Zingos 2024/2023 Fathers v Sons who raised a total of $3,653.
Eight years of SFS Baltimore and there’s one clear reason for its success: the community. Between 3,500 attendees, 1,000 players, 900 donors, and 52 teams, SFS Baltimore was able to raise $95,375 for our nation’s veterans once again proving how much the community cares about its veterans. We’ll see you in 2020!
