The Military Law Caucus (MLC), a student organization at Penn State Law in University Park, raised over $4,500 at this year’s Push Ups Supporting Heroes (PUSH), an annual fundraising event.
Eighty percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Veterans Multi-Service Center (VMC), a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive support services to military veterans in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and southern New Jersey. The remaining 20 percent will be donated to No One Left Behind, a nonprofit that offers support and emergency financial aid to Afghan interpreters and their families who were displaced in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan earlier this year.
The MLC has hosted the PUSH fundraiser, annually, since 2016. In those six years, it has raised approximately $60,000 to support U.S. military veterans and, this year, Afghan interpreters and their families.
Left to right: James W. Houck, interim dean of Penn State Law in University Park and the School of International Affairs; Michele Vollmer, associate dean of clinics and experiential Learning, director of the Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic, and clinical professor of law; and Reed Hennessy, a third-year law student at Penn State Law and president of the Military Law Caucus.
Interim Dean Houck, who is a retired vice admiral for the U.S. Navy and previously served as the Navy’s 41st Judge Advocate General, has competed in the PUSH event all six years. Here, he competes against Penn State Law student Luke Nelson.
“Although it is a competition, the truth is that everyone wins at this event,” Houck said. “Every single competitor, and their donors, are helping to raise money for a really noble cause and everyone enjoys the camaraderie of friendly competition. The PUSH fundraiser reflects the leadership and initiative of our MLC students and the inclination of our community to get involved and make a difference.”
MLC President and PUSH organizer Reed Hennessy judges a round of competition. “I want to thank all the competitors and the donors who supported them, because without them this event doesn't happen,” Hennessy said.