KAPLAN, KATC - May is National Mental Health Awareness Month. According to the National Center for PTSD, 7 out of every 100 veterans will experience PTSD in their lifetime.
Hero Hunts, a non-profit organization, is helping veterans combat mental health struggles. For over a decade, Hero Hunts has helped more than 700 veterans reconnect with the outdoors.
Army Veteran Minos Cashat has served overseas for twenty years. “I’ve gone to states like Fort Hood Texas, Fort Leonard Wood Missouri, Fort Knox Kentucky, and I was also stationed in Korea for a year, and I did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Good times,” he said.
Fostering bonds among other veterans, Hero Hunts supports veterans when they come back from the front lines.
“It started to help veterans when they were coming back to help with what they were going through,” he said.
Minos tells KATC, he looks forward to gathering in Kaplan at Ed’s Sporting Goods once a year to spend time with fellow servicemen and women.
On Saturday, the organization will host their 5th annual Skeet Shoot event in Kaplan. Veterans and their family are welcomed to join.
"Doing that outdoors, sitting in duck blinds in boats for hours. It’s a lot of things that we get off our chest with each other that we can relate with one another. A lot of folks look at disabilities as something they can see but a lot of veteran's disabilities are unseen. They are mental like ptsd and stuff so we have to include them. It’s to help them get our minds right. But even the ones with physical disabilities at times tend to get pushed off to the side and we don’t want anyone to feel that way so we bring them in,” he said.
For veterans like Minos, spending time with heroes goes far beyond camaraderie, it’s a commitment to helping out his fellow brothers and sisters in uniform.
“Once we start getting around each other, that’s when things start flowing with veterans because he or she is with someone who understands what they are going through,” Minos said.
Sign up starts at 8am at Ed’s Sporting Goods in Kaplan. Veterans can still participate for free until the slots fill up. Community members can also join the fun - each team includes four people and it costs $400 per team. You can call 337-718-2481 and/or 337-652-7518 for registration information.
What you need to bring:
- Shotgun rifle
- Shotgun shells (100)
You can purchase the equipment at Ed’s Sporting Goods if you need to.
What is not allowed?
- 4 wheeler
You can bring a golf cart and a side by side.
Ed’s Sporting Goods
21327 Chestnut Rd,
Kaplan, LA, 70548
(337) 643-2518
