Nonprofit Merging Vets & Players helping Las Vegas veterans and former pro athletes
8newsnow.com
Mary Jane Belleza
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A national nonprofit organization with local chapters across the U.S. is focused on improving the mental health of veterans and professional athletes in our community through peer support-driven wellness and fitness programs, it’s called MVP: Merging Vets, and Players.
Air Force veteran Lester Lumbad discovered MVP and joined four years ago. About a year ago, Lumbad stepped into a local program manager role in Las Vegas, and helping others is his way of giving back to his fellow veterans.
“For me personally, having a resource like MVP has been extremely important in just being connected throughout the community and be able to find a way to recreate that comradery that a lot of us felt when we were still in the service,” Lumbad explained. “My personal interests is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and I’ve trained Jiu-Jitsu for a long time.”
The weekly program lasts up to two hours. For the first hour, the group works out together followed by a discussion circle.
“It’s literally us going into the Octagon right behind me, we sit in a circle and talk about life and find ways that we can support one another,” Lumbad remarked. “A lot of times here at MVP, what will happen is someone will share their story and there might be three or four other people in the circle that’s listening to that story and maybe they have never felt heard, they never felt like their story was something that could connect with other people but when they hear another person share that story, they know they’re not alone.”
“We lean on each other throughout the week and stay in communication, whether it’s social connection or connections as in finding resources that we can benefit from,” Lumbad said.
MVP meets at Xtreme Couture MMA gym off Sunset and Valley View. It’s free to join and there are also virtual sessions available. For more information, click here.