Episode Transcript
This isn't just a podcast, it's a reminder. A reminder of what makes America Stronger isn't a headline or a hashtag. It's people from the ones building our homes to the ones rebuilding their lives, veterans, tradesmen, neighbors and volunteers, real people doing real things. Here we find common ground first, and then we work on our differences.
This is the Collective Perspective podcast where purpose, people, and progress be. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Collective Perspective podcast. My name is Jeff and I'm here with my buddy Travis. What's up Trav? What's up everybody? Glad to be back. And today we're back with a friend of ours that we've interviewed.
This'll be his third time. His name's John Green, uh, from Operation Barnabas. What's up John? What's up guys? Glad to be back. Yeah, glad to studio back. Yeah. Yeah. New to me at least. Yeah. So we've had you on about Operation Barnabas. We've had you on in regards to, uh. Schools, uh, principal's perspective on things.
And today we wanted to focus again on Operation Barnabas. It's been about a year or so since we've last had an update. And hey, everything grows. Everything changes, like the studio here. Yeah. So, uh, could you give us or the new time listener a brief overview of what Operation Barnabas is? And then kind of where you've kind of head Yeah.
You know, started heading. Absolutely. So since 2017, uh, we've been, uh, we based in, we're based in Northeast Florida, but we're continuing to grow that footprint, uh, really just starting, uh, we do, we call it triage, but it's, it's incarcerated, homeless. The suicidal veterans, first responders in, in our area and beyond as we grow.
Uh, and what we do is, is we, we use triage. So we just, like in a medical or emergency room, we, we assess what is go going wrong, what is wrong with this veteran? How did, how did they get in this situation? Homeless, incarcerated, suicidal, uh, and then we help put their life back together. And we do that in a, in a unique way in that we do it through one-to-one mentorship.
And so that's what makes Barnabas different and that's what makes Barnabas. Uh, unique from other organizations is, is that every veteran that comes into our program is assigned one human. That one human is not a. Uh, clinical worker, they're, they, they, they don't, we don't consider them a client. It's you and me figuring it out piece by piece in the emergency room.
Triaging going, okay, how do, how do we help you get your marriage put back together? How do we help you get a home? How do we help you get a job? How do we help you? Whatever it is that caused them to get into that death spiral, we help 'em. Get their life back together. So, uh, so that's what we've been doing since 2017.
Um, since we last talked. What changed really dramatically is, is that we are now in, in two, uh, jails, the Duval County Jail, which is one of the top five, I think, largest in the United States, and now the Clay County Jail and hopefully soon to be up in Brunswick in the Glen County Jail. And we want that jail program to expand into every jail that we can get into.
Um, but what it is, is, is we now have dedicated vet pods. So if you get arrested in, in those counties where we are. Uh, a veteran doesn't go to general population. They have the opportunity to go to a dedicated veteran pod, um, where we work with them and we begin the process of that triage while they're incarcerated.
Uh, we have a program curriculum called Houses of Healing. Uh, we're partnered with the Lionheart Foundation. Um, they're based up in, uh, Boston, Massachusetts area, uh, perfect partnership 'cause they love to do curriculum. We want to do the instructing, we want to get in the mud with the, with the veterans. So, uh, so we've partnered with them now and, um, and so that curriculum is in both jails so that when they get.
Out and they're released. They're much farther along in that triage process than they normally are. So as soon as they get out, we do the wraparound services like we talked about, one-to-one mentorship, and here we go. So. So that, that sounds, that's amazing. Uh, custom, custom work. Yeah, custom work and expanding a little bit better, more and getting somebody in a, in a, in a place that, uh, they don't really wanna be in.
So that's, that's kind of nice. Uh, so can you tell us a little bit about your background? Like what led you into veteran uh, services and faith? Faith-based, uh, nonprofit work. Yeah. So there's 45,000 veteran organizations in the United States, and, uh, my best friend is a, uh, force recon marine, part of the MARSOC community.
And, uh, when we met, I was his mentor. And so that was really was the catalyst for, for how Barnabas was, was begun, uh, as the relationship that Trey and I had my, my best friend. And so as we, when we were going through our relationship and building that relationship from, from strangers to mentor mentee to friends, to now brothers, we realized.
This is powerful. This is life changing, this one-to-one mentorship, this discipleship idea. Uh, obviously not ours. God, God made it a long time ago. Uh, but it works and it's powerful. And so we wanted to replicate that again and again and again and again and, um, and give every veteran that same opportunity to, to have that relationship and have their life put back together.
Your organiza, your organization emphasize a hand up. Or, uh, a hand up, not a handout. Mm-hmm. Can you explain that phrase? Yeah. So again, going back to that, you know, 45,000 veteran organizations out there, um, I think people, because we do feel, uh. Indebted. I mean, these men and women have, you know, you guys have some sacrificed the ultimate sacrifice giving up their lives, uh, giving up their limbs, giving up their, their bodies and their, and, and you know, we forget about the families that, that, that are, have to sacrifice the wives.
I was just telling her, uh, her wife, she, uh, she said, my husband served for 31 years and I said, thank you for your service. Right? 'cause she was just as much a part of it as he was. Um, and so, you know, we forget about that. And so 45,000 veteran organizations out there, you know, people want to do things for 'em.
But we found that when in any population, when you just give people stuff, it's not as impactful. But when you work together to achieve something and to earn something, it's powerful. So, uh, so like when we give a car to a veteran, you'll see it on our videos and you'll go, oh, that's great. They're giving people cars.
We didn't really give it to 'em. Uh, we just bought a car for a veteran. It was one of the nicest cars we've ever given away our 40th car. And it was, uh, it was about $2,500 after we got the repairs and everything in it. And, uh, how much, you know, the veteran donated, he, he put 500 into it. We don't, we don't care about the amount.
The amount's not important to us. It's the fact that he's got some skin in the game, that he, he has some ownership of that vehicle. Um, it makes it more special. It really does, and it just makes it more impactful. So that's the hand up, not a handout. So everything we're doing with the veteran is in that, in that same mindset that we don't care about the amount we care about, that you have some skin in the game.
What are the core programs that, uh, you focus on? Mm-hmm. Like housing, employment, mentorship, and how do they interrelate? So basically the, the, the core program is the one-to-one mentorship. Um, everything goes through that. Uh, we also do outdoors now, Trey is a, a boat captain, so he's up in Sneads Ferry. We have another group that's outta Sebastian, Florida.
So we're taking guys fishing and, and hunting out of both those locations up in North Carolina and down in Sebastian, Florida. Uh, through hooks of hope and spirit fishing. Um, so we have the outdoors, we have the jail ministry now that is up and going. Um, and so we want that program to continue to grow. We do the community and connection meetings, um, which are growing.
Um, we want to have those all over the United States community and connection meetings are literally just what they are. Community and connect. It's an, uh, isolation is now, I think the CD. C now calls isolation a disease. They've classified it as a disease equivalent to 12 cigarettes a day. And so C Community and connection works against that because what we do is we open up, um, uh.
The doors for veterans to come in and speak and talk and share and just be a part of community and connect with other veterans. And so we do that every Tuesday night and, uh, we have a Monday night group now and then we're hope to just continue to grow that group all over the United States. And then the final thing, um, that we do is what we call Barnabas missions.
And so our guys are. Military. So they're used to serving. And so when they get healthy and they're going through that triage process, we don't just, Hey, pat yourself on the back. Now it's time to go and serve and get in the mud. And so we've done hurricane relief. In fact, we've already got a bunch of guys Jones in to get down to Jamaica and they want to go down there and serve.
So, um, we have a junior college football team that we partner with. Nolan Carroll, former NFL player, and his mom, former lieutenant governor. Um, these are mostly at risk young men and we encourage our guys to go coach, volunteer, be on the sideline. What makes your organization different than 'cause there's other organizations in the community.
What makes yours different than the others? Great question. So 45,000 veteran organizations. Number one thing that makes us different, I, I personally, I know there are others out there, but I personally can't, we, we've never run across one, but we are faith-based. So in addition to, uh, all the services and all the pi, all the things programs that we're talking about, um, we encourage, we.
We, we don't manipulate, we don't bait and switch, and we don't force. We've worked with, uh, soldiers from all different walks, all different backgrounds. Um, but we are, as an organization from the top, uh, our, our battle cry is Christ first. So that is ma That makes us very unique in the veteran space because, uh, there are very few faith-based, uh, boldly, faith-based organizations that do that.
Secondly, is that one-to-one mentorship? That's. It's messy, man. People don't understand that. And, and that's why so few people do it is when you and I get into a relationship and we're going, doing life together, you know, especially a broken veteran. It's not all roses and puppies and hey, every, you know, everything's going great and everything's winning, man.
It's, it's. You know, one step forward, two steps back sometimes and, and sometimes they end Tragically, we've, we've lost some of our, our, our veterans, sadly. Um, we've lost a couple to su you know, suicide and overdoses and, um, so it's heartbreaking. We've had, we have a mentor that really hasn't mentored since he lost his, his, his mentee.
Um, it broke his heart and he just hasn't had the heart to kind of jump back in the fight. So it's messy, but. It needs to be done and it's worth it and you and veterans are worth it and it's worth the fight. So, so those, those two things, the faith-based and the one-to-one mentor is really what makes us different from the other groups and the wraparound services.
Like I said, there's a lot of groups. Take guys, fishing looks great on Instagram, put the pictures up, yay. But then Monday he goes back to his demons, he goes back to his to, to his addictions. We wanna be there on Monday. We wanna be the guys on Monday too. We're gonna take you fishing, but we wanna be there on Monday.
Yeah. That, that's, that's, I think that's very good. Uh, uh, part of the program is that follow up, that follow through if you will. Um, could you share a story about a veteran who went through your program and experienced a transformation? Yeah. We got one, just brand new man. He's, uh, is. Pretty cool. I think we sent it out a couple months ago, but, um, he was in the Duval County, uh, veteran pod out there at the, they call it the P Farm.
Um, and when he got arrested, they told him about the program and, uh, he, he literally told us, he said, yep, I heard that. And I, and, and he goes, I wanted nothing to do with you guys. I want, I didn't want to hear that garbage. I didn't wanna hear that junk. He goes, but I figured I'm not going to General pop, general population.
Probably get a little better food, maybe get treated a little better, a little better conditions and all that. So he literally goes in there with a selfish mindset of, I'm not going there to get better. I'm going there because I, I want to get better stuff. And uh, as he went through the program, he said, you know, and I listened to your instructors, uh, you know, the guys that go in and teach for us in the jail, a lot of 'em are veterans themselves.
Some of them have been on the other side. They've been where those guys are. And so, instant respect. He starts hearing these messages, he starts changing. And uh, and when he got out, um, it was so amazing. Uh, we got him a job at NES Jack's forklift operator immediately got him into an apartment. He got custody of his young son.
And, uh, just a complete 180. His mentor jumped into his life, jumped into his junk, sometimes got into him, but I mean, they formed a great bond and I just watched him change. And so it was so transformational that, um, the jail found out and they invited him to come back and be the keynote speaker at the next graduation.
And this was the cool part. So at the next graduation, he's the keynote speaker, he's up there and, uh, man, it was this summer and, uh, it's, it's hot and it's a hundred degrees. And he told, he, he told the guys, he said, listen, man. He goes, I'm not being mean. He goes, but uh, you know, after we're done here today, you guys are going back and you're gonna get locked up in a, in a, in a cell, you know?
He goes, uh, me and my little boy are going to the pool. I'm walking out that door, a free man who I, and I'm taking my little boy to the pool and I'm gonna go be dad and I'm gonna go love my son and I'm gonna go, you know, and, and people are just sitting there weeping and crying 'cause you're sitting there going where this guy was, you know?
Six months ago, a year now he's a father and he's fighting for his mar, you know, marriage, and he's fighting for, you know, it's just a complete 180 from a guy that says, I, yeah, I just think I'm gonna get better food to, no, I'm, I'm embracing everything you taught me and I'm now implementing it in my life.
It was just, it was powerful. His name's Quentin. Amazing guy. Those stories are wonderful to hear. I love the, the transformation and, and the actual impact that you're having on somebody. That's very nice. Well, what was really cool too was, is he had never been asked. To have that kind of responsibility to be a keynote speaker at something like that.
And all the brass comes out, all the, all the sheriff's office brass comes out. I mean, it's a pretty big, they do a great job with the graduations and, uh, and so for him to be asked to have that responsibility, to stand up there as a man, as a father, and say as a man of God, and say, you know, Hey, I'm a, I'm different.
I was here now. I'm here. Every guy in that room heard that man. And it was like, like throwing that rock in the, in the pond, just ripples. So what's the secret recipe for change? You said you, you keep on saying the guy changed. How did he change? Why do you think he changed? Well, as a Christian, I believe is God working on our lives.
Obviously from a Christian standpoint, um, I believe the Holy Spirit and Jesus and, and God, you know, we, it, it's transformational, but uh, from a worldly aspect, um, for anybody. When another human being comes alongside you, and this person has nothing in the fight. They don't have a dog in the fight, they're not getting paid.
They're not, they're not a lawyer, they're not a a doctor, they're not a therapist. They're not anything. They're nobody. We tell people who, who are your mentors? Nobodies, well, what are they Experts in caring. And so when to have a person care enough about you to say, I'm gonna sacrifice my time, my treasure, and my talent to help you get your life back in order, what are you getting?
Nothing. Yeah. That's, that's powerful. That's the secret sauce that you're, that you asked about. Like, it's why you, you care about me that much. Yeah. I care about you that much. So that's, that's what changes people's lives. So you have, operation Barnabas has a lot of partners with churches, government, employers, and other nonprofits.
Uh, what has been the key to the successful partnerships? The, exactly what you guys said earlier, hand up, not hand up. When we go to a business, for example, um, my goal. Is, I'm not asking that business for money. I want to help that business make money. Because if that business wins, then we win. So for example, just today as we speak, um, the office space that we use, utilize is, uh, rented, paid for.
Everything in it is, uh, a plus environmental. They're just a wastewater. They, they do a sewage gross stuff, but they love Barnabas. The CEO is a great friend of mine and he said, Hey, I wanna bless you guys and so I'm gonna give you an office space, copier, electric, internet, all the things we're paying for it so you guys don't have to take it outta your budget.
Great. That's awesome. That's a win for us. I was there for the grand opening. Yeah. So how can I help him win? So today we went and visited. And so as I'm out networking, which I do 95% of the time, as I'm out networking, I'm listening, I'm hearing, and I, and I strategize and I go, I heard a guy say he has a company that does, it's long and complicated, but it's, it's something that could help these two companies, could help each other.
And so I said, Hey, my friend could utilize you and I think you could utilize him. Can we set up a meeting? Boom. So that's what we did today. Had a lunch at Four Rivers and then went to the site. These two CEOs are meeting for a partnership. Win win, win. That's what we wanna do. I want businesses, churches, I want, I don't want, I don't want to just pat go.
Yeah, give us money and so we can go do our thing. No, I want you to win too. So our partnerships are unique that we try our best when we do sponsorships for an event. That's like, what can I do? Yeah, I could do the, you know, put your logo on there. Yeah, it looks great. That's awesome. No, I go to business owners and like, what can I do for you?
How can we customize a package that's gonna help your company get people in the door, um, utilizing our platforms of social media or whatever we need to do. So I, I. I try to do the same thing we do. It's everything we do with the veterans is relational. We wanna be relational with our partners. Uh, how do you measure the success of wholeness?
So you got, there's graduating out of the jail, right? But then there's graduating from Barnabas, isn't there? Yeah, we, we, we call it continuing care. So you don't really ever graduate 'cause we're always here. Okay. I was talking to a guy today and that was one of the things we talked about was he, he's, he's doing great.
Uh, in fact, his mentor and him were, he's like, I have to leave that way. He, he was like, I'm good. I don't, yeah. I don't need anything. And I said, well, you know, we're not kicking you out, man. Like, as I said, we're, we're, we're a family. I mean, we're, we're a community now and we say that we built a community, so we're here.
And, um, and it was. Uh, ironic that right after that, that call, I had another veteran call that I have to call back tonight. Um, he was one of the, he was my first mentee after Trey. So when I mentored Trey, and Trey and I started Barnabas together, then we both started mentoring other guys. I mentored this guy Ricky and Ricky's been doing great for eight years, but he's a senior adult veteran and he just came up on some hard times and he, and he knew who to call.
So after eight years, I haven't heard from, you know, Ricky and, and he calls and says, Hey, I, I'm, I'm struggling. Can, can you guys help? So I get to call him back tonight and go, yeah, we're family, man. Let's figure this out. What you got going on? You know, so, so you don't really ever leave Barnabas? You don't ever, you, you're always part of us, you know?
Um, and we just call it continuing care. We're always. Always there for each other. Yep. So what are some of the obstacles that you still face? Um, funding awareness, and how do you, uh, and how are you able to overcome them or, uh, how are you addressing them? Funding, of course, for any nonprofit ministry is, is 100%.
Um, always gonna be a struggle, always gonna be a part of the, um, but we have a, a board now that really truly understands the, the, the concept as, as a Christian organization of, you know, Jehovah provider. Like we, we trust God and so we're gonna tell stories, we're gonna do the work, we're going to utilize.
Treat the money. That and, and the resources, the cars, anything that's donated to us, like we want to be good stewards of it and we're gonna fight for that no matter what. We see other organizations that get big and more money starts coming in and you start seeing nicer stuff and nicer this and nicer that.
I wanna work out of this, this, this, this is my. This, I wanna work at an a plus environmentals little office for the, for the rest of, you know, as long as Barnaba is going, because we don't need big buildings, we don't need big cars, we don't need big salaries, we don't need big seat, big things. We just want to help.
We wanna make a big impact. And, um, and so we just wanna be good stewards of what's given us. But that's, that's always gonna be the challenge, is the funding, the awareness, you know, building the brand, getting your message out there to as many people. And, and right now it's just a very small group of people that's doing it and we don't.
Have, we don't, we're not the best marketers or the best things, but we love coming on podcasts like this and being, being, you know, on, on doing. Anybody that will let us talk, we'll get up and share the stories of Quentin and anybody else, so, and then we let God do the rest. I know you've been the leader.
Has there been any type of organizational change? I think there has, right? Yeah. We got a new board chair. Um, Jackson Whiting has taken over as our, as our board chair, and then that's exciting. He's a F 15 pilot, uh, was a Air Force graduate and uh, he was actually a kicker for the Air Force. It was pretty cool.
I found him on Getty Images. And, uh, and I, and I looked at the, the amount they were asking, they were asking like $500. And I was like, dude, is your mom going on there buying all your, all your pictures up there? Like, how'd you get up to $500? Like, that's pretty, that's pretty good on Getty man. And he laughed about that.
But, uh, flies for Delta now. Uh, and just, but he has a vision, uh, for Barnabas and the, and the entire board, all of our board members do, of just, um, we, we know we could stay small and kind of stay here in our little northeast Florida little community and, and be impactful. We've done that. But there are 186,000 incarcerated veterans in the United States right now.
And who's coming to get them? You know, who's coming in to, to rescue them? Who's coming in to give them that hand up? And we want it to be us. So, so we, we have a vision and he has a vision to, to, to take it even bigger. Your, your participants, uh, the veterans, they've, uh, they've learned from experience as a leader of this organization from the beginning.
What is like something really key thing that you've learned yourself from it? Being the leader of it, I have learned that it's, you know, cliche, but freedom is not free. Mm. You know, we live in the greatest. Nation on the planet. And that's, you can argue all day. There's no arguing that it is the greatest nation on the planet.
Uh, the model is the best. Um, do we have issues? Yeah, of course we do. And the best family in America has issues in family, so yeah. But it's a great model. And, and that model though, the reason why it's such a great model is because since its inception there have been men and now women. But there have been men that were literally willing to lay down their life for it, and that's.
That's just amazing to me. And so I put my head on the pillow every night enjoying the freedom that men and women are, that are in places that I don't want to go to and I don't want to send my son. You know, they're willing to go and, um, and because they're willing to get in the game and get in the fight and, and do that, um.
That, that to me has made, that's the greatest thing I've learned is, is that I want to teach that to the next generation and the next generation that, 'cause I think we lost that a little bit. I think we've, we've, we, we need to get that back. Um, I don't care what side of the aisle you're on, the men and women that serve this country, whether they're in the law enforcement or EMT or firefighters or, or military.
Those are the real heroes. Those are the guys. You know, we, we pay quarterback, we pay, uh, Trevor Lawrence, 42. I'm not knocking tr Tee off if you're listening to this. Nothing. Don't, don't, don't get mad, man. But like, we pay men millions of dollars to play a boys game. But these men that go do real men's things, uh, you know, we kind of, uh, so talk, we're all, we're all consumers to some level, but what Travis and I have been talking about lately and what's part of this podcast is.
We're highlighting contributors to society. So again, we all, we all consume to some level, but there are people that don't contribute at all. Mm-hmm. And what's amazing is, uh, what you and the organization has brought this organization to. Is there anybody else, uh, in other cities that like, Hey, I. I like what you guys are doing.
Can we have it over there? Absolutely. That's, that's the vision of the board is that we now have a model that if you, if you're, you're a sheriff or a, a jail director or somebody that's in charge of a jail somewhere in another place, we're ready to go. We have the curriculum and we'll find the instructors and we'll, we'll be in your jail and we'll start pulling those vets out and, uh, and we will get going.
Um, if you're a church and you want to open up your doors on a Thursday night for veterans and first responders to come in and have a place you can come. We haven't. Model for that for you. So it's literally plug and play at this point, um, for anybody around the nation that wants to get this thing going in their place, in their city.
So, I, I, if I remember correctly, your, your background is in education. Uh, what, what would, what advice would you give someone, uh, veteran or civilian, uh, that wants to serve or contr, contribute or engage with veterans in a meaningful way? Be, start with what's going on in your home. Teach your kids, teach your grandkids that this is the greatest country on the face of the planet, and be thankful for that.
And that there are men and women willing to get on that, watch that that wall and, and, and take that bullseye for you and me. Um. Encourage them to serve themselves, encourage them to, you know, let's make the military a thing that, again, you know, we, I, I, I saw school do this and I, I'm encouraging schools to do this.
It was so cool. But when they did the, uh, the sports things and all the D one athletes and all the kids were signing their scholarships, that was great. They had those kids, but then they had all the kids that were joining the military. And they were there with their parents doing the same thing, signing on the dotted line and going in the army.
They were putting the army hat on. They were putting the navy hat on. And I'm thinking, let's keep encouraging that. 'cause that's just as important as the kid signing a softball scholarship or a baseball scholarship, if not more important. And, uh, let's encourage that. Let's encourage the kid that's going into, uh, to go work on the line at JEA.
Put his JEA hat on, maybe he's going straight into the workforce or he is gonna become an hvac, or let's get the trades going again. Let's, let's make these things, let's encourage these things. So, um, so yeah, so, so for civilians, like, just thank God that we have men and women that are willing to go and join and serve and do the thing.
So encourage that in your home. But then secondly, um, you. If it's not Barnabas, find a veteran organization that you can support, that you can get involved in in some capacity. It might just be lending your, your, your time. It might just be volunteering at an event or something where you are interacting with veterans.
'cause I think a lot of civilians don't. We see 'em on tv. You know, you might see 'em on TV or on a, you know, show or a movie or things like that, but I don't know how much they actually spend time with a veteran saying, Hey, tell let me, that. That's what was, was. Me and Trey, I think. Trey, I'm not a veteran.
Why was Trey attracted to, you know, why did he want to hang out with me? 'cause I just listened. I didn't have a dog in a fight, you know, I was just willing to listen to, to the things that he was sharing with me. And um, and I think that's what veterans need sometimes is just, just somebody to listen to, somebody to be friends with you.
I think what he is trying to say, Travis, is that he has empathy. He showed empathy even though he could someone non-judgmental and that will listen, listen to you, right. With an open ear, right? Yep. And then of course you've been nothing but showing compassion for veterans ever since. Right? So you can. You really empathize and have compassion for, yep.
Yeah. Yeah. Where do you see Operation Barnabas in the next three to five years? Man, we hope to be, we hope to put a big dent in that. Uh, you know that 22 ve, 22 veteran suicides a day is the number that they throw out there. Some say it's up to 24 now and again, research is always lagging and things like that, but whether it's 22 or 24, here's what I, here's what I know, that our government has spent billions and billions and billions and dollars.
Our VA has spent billions and billions and billions of dollars on pills on thing like, and that number's not going down. It's not, you know, if the pills were working, if all the things that they were spending the billions of dollars on were working, then that you would see that number starting to dip.
It's not, it's either staying steady or in some studies it's going higher. So to me that is the, the, that's failure, that's mission failure. So how do we attack the problem? Again, Barnabas is small. Um, but if we can prevent one, and we have, we have literally prevented men and women from taking their own life.
So. Uh, if it's one, we'll start with one. But we hope in three to five years that it's not just one, that it's, you know, 21, it's 51, it's 101. Um, and that these men and women not only are not taking their lives, but they're now thriving rather than just surviving. And that's what we hope. We want to grow, we wanna be in more jails, we wanna be in more communities.
We want the name to be more, uh, known to like, oh, there's Barnes guys. You know, we were just at a, a wellness fair here and in our local area, and it was just so cool to see our local law enforcement, I was kidding with our board. Probably shouldn't say this on the podcast, but I said, Hey there, there's enough guys with our shirts now where with badges that if you get pulled over, just say you're with Barn bus and you might, you might get a warning instead.
Instead of getting a ticket, just they love us now. They got our geared, they're all geared out. I geared 'em all out. So nice. Um, but they recognize it and they, and, and guys were coming up going, Hey, can, can I get that new camo shirt? I got my old one from last year and I want the new one now. Can I get the new one?
So just, uh, we want more of that except we wanted be to go to Georgia and have somebody, you know, wear a shirt. I, we have a guy in Canada, he's the farthest away I wish. I, he's somewhere in Ontario and he has one of our shirts. So one day I, we're gonna run name, I wear the shirt once a week that I have.
Nice. Yeah. Appreciate your revenue. I need to get one. All right. We got, I got the gear in the car. Alright. Uh, so if listeners want to get involved with Operation Barnabas, whether volunteering or donating or whatever, what's the best way for them to do that? So just go to the website, hit James up, our ops guy.
Um, on the, on the text line there. You can text him or call him. Um, or email us and just say, Hey, I'd like to get involved in some capacity. I'd like my business to, to be involved. I wanna be a partner. I want, whatever it is, is on your heart. We do, we do, uh, locally. Um, and we're gonna have a Zoom option. Um.
We we're gonna start doing some what we call discover and, and, and, uh, connect. So it's just opportunities for people to come locally, have a lunch with us, zoom call, jump in, and, and just learn about either board membership, uh, being an ambassador for us or, or join, join in that mentorship program. John, thank you for your service, your leadership, and.
Yeah, just the thought of creating this organization and I, it's impacted thousands and it's gonna transcend, and I see it going nationwide. Every city needs this type of stuff. Is there anything that you'd wanna share with us? One last thing to let our audience know before we let you go. Just love your people, man.
Life is short and, uh, man, things go by so fast and, and I think, uh, you know, every day, um. I, I think about my grandfather who was a World War II veteran, flew B 17 bombers, and he was, he was, he would've been featured, he was one of the guys in the, uh, the, the apple, uh, masters of the Air show that came out.
Um, in fact, I followed his flight log and it matched up with the show. Wow. It was pretty fascinating. But, but I remember, um, a story that he told me, um, the only, he never talked about any of his stuff. He wrote it down, but he never talked about it. But he, um. But he did tell me one story about, I guess it was somewhere up in the Midwest there was a female basketball game, division one.
It was big co two big women's colleges were playing each other in a, in a basketball game during World War ii. And I guess one of the girls got fouled and a bobby pin fell on the floor. They stopped the game. They stopped the game and people came out from the stands and they walked up and down the floor until they found that bobby pin, because that's how much metal, that's how precious metal was.
That was a bullet. That was a bond that was, and that represented one of our boys over over fighting overseas. And, and his message was, was that we're all in this fight together. We're Americans, we're, we're, we should be u Unified in the fact that this is a great country and we need to help make it better and greater.
Um, and we're gonna have different diverging ideas, but there are universal truths that we used to all agree to, that we've somehow gotten away from. Um, and I would just encourage the listeners, let's get back to those universal truths of family and, and love and, and. Building strong families and building, having strong fathers and strong mothers in the home.
And, um, man, let's get back to those core things that made us great. Um, and, and strong military being part of that. So, yeah. Yeah, I would just encourage you, love your people and, uh. Like we say all the time, we say Love God, love his church. Love this place where we live and love all people. Uh, thank you for joining us, John today, and, and sharing Operation Barnabas with us.
Once again, we love to hear these stories. It, it is very uplifting. I know it makes my day better when I come and hear some of these, uh, these success stories. And there are some failures, but mostly you guys work really hard to make sure that, that your, your, your mentees are successful. So thank you and.
We can, uh, our listeners can log on to operation barnabas.com to get more information. Yes, sir. Hey, thanks for watching. Peace Up.
