He Helps Returning Vets Get Into Farming

He Helps Returning Vets Get Into Farming SPECIALTY/SERVICES Jim McCormick knows first hand the stress that combat instills in military service people He saw it with his dad a Vietnam veteran and he experienced it himself during 3 tours in Iraq where he was injured and received 3 Purple Hearts and 2 Bronze Stars
    “Working in the garden digging and planting and watching things grow was an ideal place for me to sort through my issues ” McCormick says “I could go out there for hours and plant weed and get away from my personal demons It took my mind off the tough things I’d been through in the service ”
    Although the comforting manual work helped it didn’t completely solve McCormick’s issues He spent a year and a half in the VA trauma clinic while still enlisted in the National Guard In 2008 he volunteered for Afghanistan but didn’t make the medical standard so he retired from the Army as a Captain after 22 years and went back to his farm
    When he started working as a disabled veterans outreach specialist he saw the lives of many veterans who didn’t know how to adjust “A soldier in a platoon has people to help and support him but once he’s out of the military he’s often on the street and alone Many live under bridges ”
    In 2009 it occurred to him that maybe other soldiers could benefit from gardening like he did McCormick brought veterans from shelters to his farm and worked closely with them A short time later McCormick suggested to the W Va Ag Commissioner that he would help develop the W Va Veterans and Warrior to Agriculture Project Less than 3 months later the Commissioner gave the program a green light Now the program is funded through non-profit support
    “If veterans don’t have property I work with them on a special lease opportunity on state land where they can raise crops or animals ” McCormick says “Beyond that program we’ve got probably 42 veterans who are beekeepers across the state By 2014 I hope to have more than 100 veterans raising crops and producing honey to sell ”
    McCormick’s seed of an idea has grown way beyond his expectations and he has more plans for the future “We’re building an apprenticeship program where people will be in it for 2 years ” says Jim “We’re taking folks who have zero knowledge about agriculture and training them to be farmers and beekeepers We’re busting at the seams but it’s a good problem to have ”
    McCormick was recently honored for his work with veterans by The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation comprised of 85 living Medal of Honor recepients After a year-long search Jim and two other Americans were given the Citizen Service Before Self Award The award was presented at Arlington National Cemetary during National Medal of Honor Day The Award provides special recognition for the recepient’s courage and willingness to sacrifice for others through a prolonged series of selfless acts
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Raising Cane Farms 1312 Allendale Court New Haven W Va 25265 ph 304 882-3769; www raisingcanefarms com

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