Members of the Billings community raise money for vets by doing burpees

BILLINGS — One man in Billings has made it his mission to help veterans, and this Saturday, personal trainer Jim Thompson and his team will be completing 20,000 burpees for veterans.

It’s a challenge that other gyms in town jumped on to raise money for the heroes of this country.

Helping veterans reintegrate into civilian life is a big part of Thompson’s personal mission.

“We live in the greatest country in the world, and we live in all these things because people have decided to dress for our country and sacrifice everything for us.” I got the chance.

Jim Thompson

Personal Trainer serves on the board of the Mark Divine Courage Foundation, a non-profit organization serving veterans.

“We reduce post-traumatic stress and promote post-traumatic growth so that veterans can help others.

This will be his fourth year with Burpees for Vets, a national movement to help veterans with burpees.

“I’m going to do burpees 24 hours a day,” Thompson said.

Thompson and his team will be doing 20,000 burpees this Saturday at Beartooth Performance to raise $20,000.

“If you want to donate, donate and come see people suffering,” Thompson said.

But anyone, anywhere can participate and raise their own funds. Several gyms in the Billings community joined the movement this year, like the F45.

“You can buy burpees from any coach in the studio, and for each amount of money collected, we have to do that number of burpees,” said F45 instructor Rebecca Avery.

The fitness studio is offering free military-style workouts to the community this Friday and Saturday, though coaches will be doing burpees on Veterans Day.

Alina Hauter / MTN News

“I have to do 57 now so you can find my link. If you want me to do more by donating, that’s enough for me,” says Avery said.

The Burpees for Vets campaign’s goal is to raise $100,000 this year. Thompson’s team has raised nearly $2,000 so far, but it’s not done yet.

“There are several different QR codes that you can scan. You can make them burpee or set up your own deals,” says Thompson.

100% of the funds raised from this movement will be donated to vetted charities that support the return of veterans to civic life.

“They are heroes, not victims. All we need is to give them the right tools to keep them on track,” Thompson said.

If you want to learn more about Burpees for Vets, visit the BurpeesForVets Challenge.

You can get Thompson to do more burpees by donating at Burpees For Vets (wegive.com). You can also donate to F45 and have your coach burpees at Burpees For Vets (wegive.com).