On average, 22 veterans die by suicide each day. 22 Salute™ Spirits & Coffee ‘With a Purpose’™ believes that our military heroes deserve better. They’re a social initiative that exists to support the lifesaving work of The Veterans Connection™, a registered non-profit focused on veteran and first responder mental health and suicide prevention.
Co-founder Eric Ranks is the son of a Vietnam veteran. After witnessing the lack of accessible mental health support available for returning military, he launched The Veterans Connection in 2012. The non-profit provides a holistic approach to mental health in four phases: Connect, Empower, Align, Thrive.
First, they connect veterans and first responders with a community, creating a safe and supportive network of accountability. The Empower phase meets their physical needs, from securing housing, to providing transportation and even childcare. Once those basic necessities are taken care of, healing can occur. The alignment phase gives veterans and first responders access to non-pharmaceutical mental health solutions, like therapies and service dogs, enabling them to develop a healthy mind, body and spirit. Lastly, the Thrive phase is about achieving financial stability through education and training.
When you put it all together, veterans and first responders are provided the tools and skills they need to live a life of dignity and independence.
A charity like this is nearly impossible to run on donations alone. That’s why Ranks co-founded 22 Salute™ Spirits & Coffee ‘With a Purpose’™. The idea was to create a self-sustaining business that would generate a steady stream of capital to fund The Veterans Connection.
22 Salute™ officially launched in 2022, with two veteran-made products: vodka and coffee. In the first six months of production, their vodka won a Double Gold Medal at the 2023 Tag Global Spirits Awards, an international competition that evaluates the world’s finest spirits.
“Anyone can put out a product and put a mission behind it, but if it’s not of the highest quality, people aren’t going to buy it,” said Ranks.
So how did he manage to quickly develop an award-winning spirit? Veterans, of course.
22 Salute™ works with veteran-owned companies to ensure the highest possible attention to detail. 22 Salute™ vodka is made at Dragon Distillery in Maryland. The veteran and female-owned distillery was voted one of the best in the nation by Travel & Leisure in 2021 and was the first distillery to open in Frederick City since the Prohibition era. The vodka is corn-based, lending it a subtle sweetness without any additives. It’s charcoal filtered an average of 22 times, to honor and remember the lives lost each day in the veteran community.
It takes an extra 48 hours to filter 22 Salute, compared to other vodkas, and the result is the smoothest spirit on the market.
The premium spirit is housed in an eye-catching bottle, designed to attract veterans and to educate the public. On the front is a minimalist silhouette of a soldier in salute. On the back is a wall of text outlining the mental health crisis in America. For veterans, the bottle sends a clear message: you are not alone, you are valued and there are resources that can help. For the general public, the bottle reveals the harsh reality our veterans face each day. “We want people to pick up the bottle, to engage with it,” said Ranks. “No one else is doing this type of mass education right now. And more people need to know what’s happening.”
22 Salute™ is rapidly expanding and partnering with other like-minded, veteran-owned businesses. Try their 22 Salute™ Coffee, roasted by a Navy veteran. It’s made from single-origin, organic and fair-trade specialty beans from Honduras, slowly smoked over Texas mesquite wood. They’ll be expanding into bourbon and other spirits soon.
Each 22 Salute™ purchase funds The Veterans Connection and helps change lives. Visit www.22salute.com to learn more and place an order for your bar or restaurant.
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