Wounded Warrior Project was founded in 2003 as a small, grassroots effort to provide simple care and comfort items to the hospital bedsides of the first wounded service members returning home from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This year, WWP will be recognized as THE PLAYERS Championship’s Charity of the Day on Saturday, March 15, highlighting the organization’s continued dedication to supporting veterans and their families.
Over twenty years later, WWP has impacted the lives of thousands of military service members and their families. Much like Dan Nevins, a retired Army veteran living in Ponte Vedra who received those comfort items at his bedside from some of WWP’s founders at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in the early 2000s.
“That’s what started my relationship with the Wounded Warrior Project,” Nevins said. “A backpack and a promise that whatever I needed, or my family needed, they’d be there.”
Nevins survived a devastating explosion in Iraq, resulting in the loss of both legs and a traumatic brain injury. After stints in hospitals overseas, Nevins was transported back to the States where he ultimately ended up at Walter Reed.
When the PGA Tour came through the hospital to bolster the spirits of wounded military members, Nevins had never touched a golf club, nor did he recognize any of the players who visited him.
A conversation with his physical therapist would lead to him trying out the sport, a new method to help build balance and core strength with his prosthetics.
“There’s something really powerful about when your world is crumbling around you and you’re forced into a situation where all you have to do is hit a little, white ball,” Nevins said.
Wounded Warrior Project encouraged him to continue the sport, taking Nevins and other service members to golf ranges near Walter Reed as they recovered. Nevins grew to love a good game of golf and now attributes his mental and invisible healing to the sport.
“I owe everything I’ve been able to do in my personal and professional life to what WWP has done for me,” Nevins said, “and the game of golf.”
After moving to Northeast Florida and retiring from the military, Nevins was recruited by the PGA Tour to help with military appreciation initiatives nationwide. He helped develop many of the programs that the tour employs today. Nevins stayed heavily involved with WWP and was eventually hired by the organization, where he spent nine years helping other wounded warriors the same way he’d been helped.
As THE PLAYERS’ Charity of the Day, Nevins looks forward to the opportunities it presents to highlight the relevance of Wounded Warrior Project for the next generation of warriors and their families. He was also honored to serve as golf legend Rory McIlroy’s honorary caddy during a practice round on Tuesday, March 11.
“For me, knowing that WWP was chosen as Charity of the Day feels full circle,” he said. “I love that fact that maybe somebody saw this guy with no legs caddying for Rory at TPC and they thought ‘Maybe I’ll try it out’ or ‘Maybe I’ll get reconnected with WWP.’”
For more information on how to get connected with Wounded Warrior Project, look for representatives at the Patriots' Outpost.
