VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Two Virginia Beach-based businesses are aiming to raise $25 million to help veterans pay off their medical debt through a campaign that could impact more than 10,000 veterans across the country.
Virginia Beach clothing company Born Primitive and Virginia Beach coffee business Black Rifle Coffee Company teamed up for the five days leading up to Veterans Day to donate 100% of their profits to wipe out medical debt for veterans.
Newport News Army veteran Lynzi Felder was one of the recipients, receiving $11,000 to help pay off her medical bills.
"I think the most amazing part about this is, like, you guys are reaching all veterans with this," Felder said.
Bear Handlon, co-founder and CEO of Born Primitive, said seeing the impact on recipients like Felder drives the mission.
"To see the look on her face, of course, she was speechless, and life changing events. So that's just one of you know, like I said 10 to 12,000 people that we are going to impact," Handlon said.
The companies chose to focus on medical debt because of its unpredictable nature.
"You could, you know, wake up one day and get a rare illness or get, you know, a car accident driving to work. So we thought medical debt was, was really important, just because it can be such a big burden for people that became because of an unforeseen event," Handlon said.
Last year's campaign was a huge success, paying off $11 million in medical bills for almost 6,000 veterans across the country. Felder said she's grateful to have been one of the recipients.
"I think what you guys are doing is amazing. And I know that there's so many families that could benefit from this. And I'm really lucky to have been one," Felder said.
Any veteran across the country who has medical debt can be randomly chosen to receive the money that gets raised from the campaign.
"You could just tell by her reaction that this was gonna have a huge impact, and that's exactly why we're doing this. So, I hope they'll be more from the 757 on that list when the dust settles. I mean, I think there's a good chance. You know, especially if we hit 12,000 people," Handlon said.
100% of profits from all online purchases from Born Primitive and Black Rifle Coffee Company through 3 a.m. Wednesday go toward the Veterans Medical Debt Relief Campaign.
For Felder, the support represents something deeper than financial relief.
"At the time I served, a lot of my battle buddies didn't have my back. And this is just a really good reminder that, like, I'm still a veteran too," Felder said.
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