Jay Yennock 22-Day PushUp Challenge

The 22-Day Push-Up Challenge involves filming yourself performing 22 push-ups every day for 22 days and encouraging others to undertake the challenge or make a donation in lieu thereof. The challenge was originally started by an Army Veteran in Michigan, who created it to raise awareness about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The 22 push-ups in this challenge that is circulating across social media relate to a 2010 analysis by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that states that an average of 22 Veterans die each day from suicide; an updated analysis just released by the VA  shows a decrease in the rate to 20 Veteran per day.*


Jay Yennock, president of China Towne Furniture and Mattress in Solvay , is undertaking the 22-Day Push-Up Challenge to raise awareness of and funds for Clear Path for Veterans in Chittenango. This is a personal mission for Yennock; his aim is to support family members of Veterans and active duty service members who feel hopeless and without a direction to turn.


“We are excited to team up with Clear Path for Veterans to support our active military, Veterans, and their families. Please help us aid, fund and bring awareness to the ‪#‎22Kill per day to suicide by spreading the word to support those who provide freedom for our country,” said Yennock.

“Join us by joining the challenge to do 22 push-ups in 22 days to raise awareness to the fact that 22 American Veterans will commit suicide today! Continue to find emotional and physical strength you never thought existed. I’ll be posting videos here to highlight some folks that have undertaken this challenge with me.”

Yennock explains how it works: Video yourself executing 22 push-ups to your ability level. Post the video to Facebook and other social media by using the hashtags #‎22pushups for ‪#‎22kill. Then call out your friends, family, battle buddies, anyone. The sky is the limit. The goal is to raise awareness for our service members who are battling this demon.

Clear Path for Veterans Co-Founder and Executive Director Melissa Spicer said it is partners such as Jay who allow Clear Path to offer the types of programs that it does:

“This 22-day challenge is one more reminder that our Veteran population and their families deserve our attention each and every day, 365 days a year. No Veteran or family member of a Veteran should ever fall through the cracks. Our programs touched the lives of more than 13,000 Veterans in 2015 and we are on pace to eclipse that number in 2016. That shows me that there’s still work to do within our community.  With the support of this campaign we can do more for our Veterans and their families within New York state and beyond. We are grateful to every contributor to this campaign – whether you donate $1 or $1,000. And you are making a significant impact on the life of a Veteran and their family.”

Clear Path for Veterans was founded in 2011 and serves as Central and Upstate New York’s Veteran Resource Center, providing a centralized hub of information, programs and resources. It is a welcoming community of staff and volunteers serving all Veterans, active duty service members and their families. Clear Path engages, supports, and makes it easy to connect with what Veterans and their families need with a commitment to providing a welcoming place to call home. Its in-house programs and services are innovative, adaptive and flexible to the needs of those who serve and we’re proud to connect Veterans and their families to the great resources within our community.
Click here  to learn more about Clear Path for Veterans.
Click here  to find Clear Path on Facebook.