EDMONDS — With every tackle or sack he makes this season, Edmonds-Woodway senior outside linebacker Moses “Mojo” Martin is making a difference in the lives of local veterans.
Martin is raising money for the “Heroes’ Cafe” in Lynnwood, a nonprofit organization that provides emotional support for veterans through giving them a space to bond by talking about their military experiences.
Through a project called “Team Mojo,” people can help support the Heroes’ Cafe by sponsoring Martin for every tackle or sack that he collects during an Edmonds-Woodway game this year.
“We had this idea about doing a fundraiser, and we’ve heard of people doing, when I was growing up, doing a jog-a-thon or marathons, and you could donate so much money,” Moses’ father, Earl Martin, said. “People could ride a bike or jog so many miles or something like that. I’ve never really heard of anybody doing that with a football game, so we had this idea, and went ‘What charity would you want to do?’”
Moses, who intends to join the Air Force after he graduates next year, has heard stories about the problems veterans face in receiving things such as housing, food, health care and emotional-support services.
To figure out how they could help, Moses and Earl called the Snohomish County veterans support services office, which directed them to the Heroes’ Cafe. Director Gary Walderman enthusiastically supported the project.
Walderman served in the Air Force for 21 years, and sees the issues that returning veterans face nearly every day.
Just by sharing a cup of coffee and talking to people who have had similar experiences, the veterans served by Heroes’ Cafe can stave off the isolation that many of them feel. With lots of veterans suffering from PTSD, that sense of isolation contributes to the ongoing problem of veteran suicide.
To Walderman, helping veterans gain self esteem and giving them a place to talk through their issues is the most important part of his job.
“The mission is camaraderie,” Walderman said. “We want them to act in a positive (way), put them in a positive situation and to deal with, you know, the environment that they’re in. It’s a safe environment, and they can talk to us, and we can help them instead of them just trying to navigate the craziness by themselves.”
The group meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month at New Life Church in Lynnwood from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with coffee served at 8:30 a.m., and lunch served from 11 to 11:40 a.m. No membership dues or proof of service is required, and all food and drink is free.
Along with providing veterans with a safe space to talk, Heroes’ Cafe helps out by doing things like paying for a homeless vets’ hotel bill while the official veterans organization puts together their benefits paperwork, paying for gas, laundry or helping get furniture once the veterans office gets a veteran into an apartment.
Moses recently visited a Cafe meeting, and said the veterans there welcomed him with open arms, though they all seem to have their own ideas about which branch of the service he should join.
“He made a mistake and said he was going to join the Air Force,” Walderman laughed. “All the Army, Navy, Marine and Coast Guard guys got all upset and started putting pressure on him, like ‘Hey, you’re going in the wrong service.’ But they all jumped on the opportunity to get with him and have their picture taken with him and be able sit and talk.”
His service decision might’ve caused some good-natured uproar, but his fundraising efforts have made him a popular man.
“Everyone has been so cool,” Moses said. “I met all these veterans at a Heroes Cafe meeting, and everyone kept coming up to me. Everyone was talking to me like I was one of them. They’re just very open, and very, very cool. Very friendly, … I felt welcome.”
If Moses does join the Air Force, he will be just the latest in a long line of Martins to serve.
According to Earl, Moses’ 98-year old great grandfather Bill Jones is the last known surviving member of the World War II Navy Warship Crew the “USS Jamestown.” Moses’ grandfather Earl Martin Sr., who died last year, was a Vietnam era veteran who served 15 years in the Coast Guard. The family said it can trace its military history back through the Civil War and Revolutionary War.
How to help
There is no required donation amount for those who want to help support the Team Mojo cause. Some on the group’s Facebook group have pledged amounts such as $1 per tackle and $5 per sack, but all donations are welcome. Through the first four games of the season, the effort has raised around $2,527 of Moses’ fundraising goal of $9,999.
People can pledge money on the Team Mojo Facebook page and donate at the GoFundMe page.
Moses’ friends and Warriors’ teammates have been supportive of his fundraising efforts, and have gotten involved by wearing helmet stickers that say “Warriors for Warriors,” an idea that came from Walderman.
“I was truly amazed that a young man like that would want to reach out and do a community service project, and more happy that he chose us,” Walderman said. “I was all in from the first second that he started talking about it, and it was just great.”