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Push-up competition raises money for veterans and Afghan interpreters

The annual fundraising event is organized by the Military Law Caucus, a student organization at Penn State Law in University Park. This years event raised over $4,500, which will be donated to the Veterans Multi-Service Center and No One Left Behind.
Dexter Mills and Mari Reott compete at PUSH 2021

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – 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) 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.

Responding to recent events, the MLC decided to donate the remaining 20 percent 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.

“I want to thank all the competitors and the donors who supported them, because without them this event doesn't happen,” said Reed Hennessy, a third-year law student at Penn State Law and president of the MLC. “I also want to credit the MLC executive board for coming up with the idea to donate 20 percent of this year's proceeds to No One Left Behind. Supporting our veterans is as worthy a cause as there is, and being able to support another group this year just made it all the better.”

Twenty participants competed in this year’s event, including James W. Houck, interim dean of Penn State Law in University Park and the School of International Affairs. Houck is a retired vice admiral for the U.S. Navy and previously served as the Navy’s 41st Judge Advocate General. He has competed in the PUSH event all six years.

“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.”

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.

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