The important mission behind Veterans Walk: 'Become involved'

Watch the full report from WTVR CBS 6 Photojournalist Phillip Waddy in the video player above.

RICHMOND, Va. -- The Military Retiree Club's 2nd annual Veterans Walk took place on Brown’s Island on Saturday morning.

The scenic 5k walk supports the organization's Bridge Over Troubled Water Program, which combats opioid addiction and mental health issues among veterans.

Dr. Sonja Johns, a retired Air Force colonel and vice president of the club, said finding community after their term of service can be critical for veterans.

"They have a structured life and sometimes they hang up their uniform and don't have a place to go per se and no goals or anything — that's where suicide can get in," Johns explained. "So if you become involved in any community activity... you can still serve out of uniform."

Richmond Mayor Danny Avula, who served as a grand marshal for the event, thanked those in attendance for spotlighting veteran suicide.

"We know that folks who have served in our military services experience [suicide] at much higher rates than everybody else," Avula said. "We need to do more to stand with our veterans. I just want to say thank you to you all for the decision to serve, for the act of service and love that it is for the rest of this society... We need to do everything we can to give people access to the services they need so that they can live long and healthy lives beyond their time of service."

CBS 6's Joi Fultz also served as one of the grand marshals of the walk.

"It's an honor to be able to participate in something for fitness but also supporting our veterans," Fultz said. "One of the big causes of this is suicide prevention and so also just being able to bring awareness to that as well as opioid addiction is just a huge honor."

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