How It All Started

By Phil and Julie Taub, Co-Founders

Here is our story.  We started Swim With A Mission, Inc. because we needed to do something! We are frustrated and concerned that our Veterans are being treated so poorly. Our Veterans and their families have given so much and for some, have made the ultimate sacrifice.  Our Veterans deserve more. We live in the land of the free and the home of the brave, because of the brave. We hope that you will join us on this mission to help, support and honor our Veterans.
 
We started this organization with our friends by combining our most fundamental passions: Veterans, lake living and swimming.  Our cornerstone event features a swim across Newfound Lake, the cleanest lake in the Northeast, followed by a demonstration of skills by our Navy SEALs.  We now have hundreds of swimmers and volunteers showing up and raising money for our Veterans.  Thousands of spectators have showed up to provide support and enjoy what has become a huge Veteran festival.  We then added a unique team building day led by the Navy SEALs in which they spend time presenting to some of the top companies in the Northeast about leadership, “team first” attitude and mental toughness.  We then test those skills in a paintball tournament, which in its first two years has become the highest grossing paintball charity event ever in the USA. 

As we continue to evolve and understand more about the needs of our Veterans, we are focusing more on providing service dogs to Veterans and creating art programs, both of which address the invisible wounds that too many of our veterans are suffering through. Last year, we added an event Whiskey and Whiskers that focuses on the military K9’s, both in combat and then in their roles as service K9’s to our Veterans. This year, we are creating art programs for Veterans and their families.  We are kicking off our art fundraising efforts by bringing Portraits of Courage to New Hampshire, a unique collection of paintings of Veterans by President Bush. 

We are so grateful that our first three years were such a great success and are exceedingly appreciative of every donor, sponsor, swimmer, volunteer and participants who helped make this mission victorious!  We have an incredible board, group of advisors and swim committee that are working hard to make year four even better.  We are all volunteers, except that we have now made our first staff hire in the amazing Matt Foster. Please join us to make a difference!