About 22 Jumps
Why we jump
A veteran-led nonprofit using adventure sports to confront the suicide crisis, and to fund the science behind the injury driving so much of it.
Our story
Military service is the family business.
Tristan and Kiernan Wimmer both served with the 1st Marine Division in Iraq. In November 2006, Kiernan was caught in the backblast of a rocket and sustained a massive traumatic brain injury.
For the next nine years, Kiernan’s mental distress and emotional volatility accelerated. To people outside the family, he seemed fine. The people closest to him watched him struggle. In 2015, Kiernan took his own life.
22 Jumps began as a single event to honor him. It has grown into an organization built to change the story of veteran and first responder suicide and to fund the research and programming that prevents it.
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Our mission
To support the development of durable long-term and short-term solutions for those suffering from TBIs and suicidal ideations.
How we got here
From one event to a national footprint.
Established the Kiernan Wimmer TBI Innovation Initiative, held our first fundraising event at Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona, and launched the website.
Established a research partnership with the Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai and expanded our fundraising footprint to the Perrine Memorial Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho.
22 Jumps incorporated as a 501(c)(3). Expanded our fundraising footprint to the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayetteville, West Virginia, and performed the first legal BASE jump in a U.S. national park in 42 years.
Launched the Speaker Series dinner and the Veterans Day Weekend Adventure Sports Retreat in Moab, Utah.
Established a research partnership with the Traumatic Brain Injury & Concussion Center of University of Utah Health.
Launched the Jordan Taylor Plant Medicine Fund and expanded our fundraising footprint to St. Louis, MO.
Who we are
Led by veterans and jumpers.
22 Jumps runs on an all-volunteer effort. Keeping operations lean is how we send more of every dollar to the mission.
Board of Directors
Board of Advisors
Governance & transparency
Built to earn your trust.
- A registered 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 87-2962189.
- Recognized with Candid’s Platinum Transparency seal.
- $0 in executive compensation. 22 Jumps is run entirely by volunteers.
- A lean, mission-first budget so more of each gift reaches TBI research and suicide prevention programming.
Questions
Still wondering how this all works?
What the jumping has to do with suicide prevention, who we serve, and how to take part.
Give
Fund the science that can change the number.
Your gift funds the testing and treatment of the invisible injury behind many suicides, and the programs that reach veterans and first responders today.
