GIVING BACK: Til Valhalla Project
BlogAugust 03, 2023
Each issue, the editorial staff of Military Embedded Systems will highlight a different organization that benefits the military, veterans, and their families. We are honored to cover the technology that protects those who protect us every day.
This issue we are highlighting Til Valhalla Project (TVP), an operation started by Marine veteran Korey Shaffer and his wife Tiffany in 2017. In 2016, while grieving the loss by suicide of one of his closest friends from the Marines, Korey made a plaque to honor his fallen friend and gave it to his deceased friend’s mother, who loved it. He realized that making this memorial plaque was an effective coping mechanism for him. Other people started asking for a similar plaque for their lost veterans. Korey and Tiffany started TVP to fund the making of the plaques and to raise money to contribute to mental-health support for veterans.
Korey – now the president and CEO of the Til Valhalla Project – has spearheaded memorial plaque-making, branded garment sales, and fundraising, enabling TVP to donate more than $1.2 million to date toward Mission 22, a nationwide charitable organization focused on raising funds to lower the rate of suicide among veterans. Mission 22 also funds localized and personalized support and access to resources to help veterans and their families with re-entry to society and the workforce, especially following a service-related injury.
According to information on TVP’s website, more than 200 veteran lives have been saved, more than 1,500 memorial plaques have been anonymously delivered, and thousands of loved ones have been honored since TVP was launched. Although TVP is based in Florida, residents of several states have established their own fundraising vehicles – including memorial cycle rallies and other events – to donate to the company and to Mission 22.
For additional information, please visit https://tilvalhallaproject.com/.
