Have you noticed the Weston Police officers and detectives are starting to look a little rough recently? Yeah, it’s not the long hours (though those contribute) nor support for the extremely fuzzy Red Sox players (I don’t watch baseball but even I can pick a Red Sox player out–Gillette needs to go back to sponsoring, no? Incidentally, Gillette stopped sponsoring the Sox in 2018 probably in disgust at their low usage of the products).

I digress. We are talking about Weston’s Finest participating in No-Shave November, when they will forgo shaving and grooming in order to encourage conversations and break the stigma associated with post-traumatic stress and other invisible wounds of war. 2021 marks the seventh year of this annual fundraiser.

No-Shave November helps raise awareness and funds for Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program which provides critical, life-saving care to Veterans and their Families to heal from the invisible wounds. Home Base was founded and championed by MBTA Transit Police/Boston Gang Unit Detective Kurt Power, U.S. Army Veteran, Purple Heart recipient and proud graduate of Home Base.

From the Everett Independent page about Home Base, the effects of invisible wounds are sobering:

“The past 18 months have presented our Veterans, Service Members, and their Families with significant challenges. The ongoing pandemic, coupled with the abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan, has reopened old wounds for some Veterans and caused many of our warriors and their families to question the value of their service and sacrifice. The rate of Veteran and military suicides continues to rise in the COVID era by roughly 20%, with now more than 20 Veterans dying by suicide every day. More than 7,000 Service Members were killed during the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 1.8M received permanent disabilities due to their injuries, and 30,000 Veterans from this Post 9-11 generation have died by suicide. “

According to the Home Base page, in November 2020, 132 New England Police Departments (+ Florida), several individuals, companies and sponsors joined. To date, this campaign has raised over $1 MILLION. This year, Weston Police want to raise even more awareness about the invisible wounds and care Home Base provides, as well as raising more funds.

All Weston Police participants have individually pledged to donate and/or fundraise $100 for the cause. Please consider donating to the department’s page. This is a great way for our community to make an impact together.

You can find the Weston Police fundraising page here.