SIG Sauer and Max Michel Team Up to Prevent Suicide

More than $2,000 was raised during last weekend’s auction of a SIG Experience—SIG Sauer factory tour, lunch and private afternoon training session with seven-time World Speed Shooting champion and Team SIG captain Max Michel. The money will go to Active Heroes Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending veteran/military suicides.

“At SIG Sauer our commitment to the men and women of the Armed Forces never ends,” said Tom Taylor, chief marketing officer and executive vice president of commercial sales at SIG Sauer. “Ensuring that our veterans and their families have services readily available to them to address their needs is a priority for everyone here at SIG Sauer. Through this collaboration between the SIG Sauer Academy and Max Michel, we aim to raise awareness for veterans’ issues and bring additional financial support to the Active Heroes Foundation.”

The Active Heroes website explains the organization, “…is an IRS approved 501c3 Charity with the mission to support all U.S. military service members, veterans and their families through physical, educational, and emotional programs in an effort to eliminate suicide.” After Army veteran Troy Yocum witnessed the problem in fellow Soldiers after he returned from deployment in Iraq, he embarked a 17-month, 7,800-mile hike in 2010, across 37 states to raise awareness. The trek caught the media’s attention, but it was the $1.3 million he received in sponsor donations that allowed Active Heroes to be established.

“As a U.S. Army veteran, I have seen first-hand the many challenges that our Soldiers and Marines face when they return home,” said Team SIG Captain Max Michel. “The Active Heroes Foundation has a mission of ending veteran suicide and their work is making a real difference and saving families. These are America’s heroes, we honor them, we support them, and we are committed to ensuring the Active Heroes Foundation has the resources to provide our veterans with the services they need following deployment.”

A Veterans Affairs study from 2014 estimated 20 veterans take their own lives every day.