Amy Gillilan was an Air Force One flight attendant for presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Last Sunday, she would have turned 41. Gillilan took her own life in 2019.”I had no idea that she suffered with mental illness,” Jodi Jefferson said.Now, Jefferson is honoring her friend and the legacy of the woman she served with. “When Jay told me about the mission, I knew that it was a perfect way to honor her and remember her, and so I put her picture and her flight patch on my pack, and so she goes with me every mile I walk,” Jefferson said.The 50 Mile March’s mission: raise money to end veteran suicide and homelessness.”It’s one thing to help, that’s so cheap, we want to serve,” Jay Miralles, co-founder of 50 Mile March, said.The group marches from Lincoln to Omaha. It’s 22 hours in honor of the 22 veterans who take their own life each day.”Twenty-two too many every day,” Jefferson said.To qualify for the 50 Mile March this August, walkers have to be carrying at least 15 pounds.For everyone who marches, shouldering that weight is symbolic.”I know what it’s like to not feel worthy and feel like a burden,” Miralles said.”I struggle with some mental things myself, so just trying to get out there, help out everyone else that’s kind of like me or doing a lot worse than me,” Chief Master Sgt. Rob Bailey of the 157th Air Intelligence Squadron said.”This has changed my life. The last year and a half, just being around these like-minded individuals has literally changed my life,” Jefferson said.Since 2020, they’ve given half a million dollars in grants to local veteran-serving nonprofits. Now, the goal is to build a 22 tiny homes on a veteran campus called the Community of Hope.”So guys like me could have had a place to incubate for 18 months, to help get me back on my feet, pay my way, earn my way, job development, safe place to be, around my brothers and sisters,” Miralles said.
Amy Gillilan was an Air Force One flight attendant for presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Last Sunday, she would have turned 41. Gillilan took her own life in 2019.
“I had no idea that she suffered with mental illness,” Jodi Jefferson said.
Now, Jefferson is honoring her friend and the legacy of the woman she served with.
“When Jay told me about the mission, I knew that it was a perfect way to honor her and remember her, and so I put her picture and her flight patch on my pack, and so she goes with me every mile I walk,” Jefferson said.
The 50 Mile March’s mission: raise money to end veteran suicide and homelessness.
“It’s one thing to help, that’s so cheap, we want to serve,” Jay Miralles, co-founder of 50 Mile March, said.
The group marches from Lincoln to Omaha. It’s 22 hours in honor of the 22 veterans who take their own life each day.
“Twenty-two too many every day,” Jefferson said.
To qualify for the 50 Mile March this August, walkers have to be carrying at least 15 pounds.
For everyone who marches, shouldering that weight is symbolic.
“I know what it’s like to not feel worthy and feel like a burden,” Miralles said.
“I struggle with some mental things myself, so just trying to get out there, help out everyone else that’s kind of like me or doing a lot worse than me,” Chief Master Sgt. Rob Bailey of the 157th Air Intelligence Squadron said.
“This has changed my life. The last year and a half, just being around these like-minded individuals has literally changed my life,” Jefferson said.
Since 2020, they’ve given half a million dollars in grants to local veteran-serving nonprofits. Now, the goal is to build a 22 tiny homes on a veteran campus called the Community of Hope.
“So guys like me could have had a place to incubate for 18 months, to help get me back on my feet, pay my way, earn my way, job development, safe place to be, around my brothers and sisters,” Miralles said.