I had a chat to Mathew Keene of Young Veterans recently, who told me a bit about the social community at the heart of the organisation and the shenanigans they get up to.
Young Veterans are a community hub with a goal to enrich the lives of Australian veterans, empowering them to progress and succeed in life after service.
They consistently plan get-togethers with the intention of providing a safe place for the members to share and connect in a way that is fun and encouraging. Upcoming events include yoga, informal BBQ's at RSL venues and camping trips.
Young Veterans are even offering free tickets to the DEWALT SXS Australian Championship, an intense race between 4×4 dual-seat offroad vehicles over jumps and high speed tracks. (Matt informed me that he himself is the engineer for a vehicle in the competition. Stephen Gregory, an Afghanistan veteran, is driving.) He enthusiastically tells me that some other Young Veteran members are "building a drag car in Brisbane!"
Matt and Wild Timor's Tom Mahon met some years ago at a joint event through mutual friends in the veteran community. He couldn't remember the exact event, but said it was inevitable that they eventually ran into each other- there are only a few degrees of separation, after all!
Mathew was regularly buying Wild Timor coffee from our Coburg cafe, and at some point, a friendship blossomed along with a business relationship.
Being a talented photographer and videographer, he plans to head to Timor-Leste in the near future with some of our crew to document the experience.
Now, Wild Timor continue to support Young Veterans through donations and shared projects.
Last year we teamed up to send 63 care packages to HMAS Warramunga who are deployed on Op Manitou. We are currently working with volunteers here at the warehouse putting together 100 similar packs to be sent off to troops in Iraq. Stay tuned for footage!
Young Veterans is 100% volunteer run and operated.