(CBS DETROIT) – Michigan veterans die from suicide at much higher rates than the rest of the population, according to recent Veteran Affairs data.

The Step Up Foundation is working to prevent these deaths by funding research into veteran brain health. The 2024 “Find Your Way Home” swim in Grosse Ile will benefit the foundation.

This year marks the second year of the event. The 10k swim is Saturday, Sept. 14 from the Grosse Ile Yacht Club to the Detroit River Lighthouse.

“Swimming for me is a time just to kind of reflect back on military life. Friends I’ve lost. … Have conversations with guys I don’t get a chance to anymore. And just kind of make peace with things,” said PJ Ramsey, a Navy SEAL veteran and event director of the Step Up Foundation.

The money raised will go towards causes that support veteran brain health.

“Plenty of veterans, plenty of teammates I have, have struggled with transitioning. I myself included with PTS, suicidal ideations, suicidal attempts. Honestly, with all the training I’ve been through in the military, the hardest thing I had to do was ask for help,” said Ramsey.

The Step Up Foundation was founded by Sara Wilkinson, who started it in honor of her husband, Chad Wilkinson, a Navy SEAL for 21 years who died by suicide.

“We found ways to donate his brain and do research. We learned he suffered not just from multiple TBIs but what’s called interface astroglial scarring. Which is blast wave injuries to the brain through combat and through training,” said Wilkinson.

Wilkinson said she started the foundation to help battle those invisible wounds veterans face.

“The truth is, it’s an epidemic. We’ve had thousands and thousands of service members take their life. And so, it doesn’t matter — branch, rank, gender, time in service. They have given to us, and we need to stand up for them,” she said.

More than 30 swimmers will participate in the swim. The event will host an after-party at the Grosse Ile Yacht Club. The event will feature food, drinks and live music. You can buy tickets for the after-party. 

“Coming up to Grosse Isle last year for the first time, I just can’t even say what this community, how special they are,” said Wilkinson. “Grosse Isle has touched me in a way that will last a lifetime.”

The Detroit Lions announced their captains for the 2024 season, and quarterback Jared Goff and linebacker Alex Anzalone will wear the ‘C’ on their chest for the fourth straight season.

On Monday, six captains were announced — Goff, Anzalone, right tackle Penei Sewell, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and linebacker/special teams ace Jalen Reeves-Maybin.

The Lions did not say how captains were selected in the announcement, but in years past, it has been determined by a player vote.

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Hutchinson, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft, is the only first-time captain in the group, with the other five being a captain for at least the second straight year. Hutchinson replaces Charles Harris as one of the two defensive captains alongside Anzalone. St. Brown and Sewell are both captains for the second year entering their fourth NFL season in Detroit and join Goff as offensive captains. Reeves-Maybin was a team captain in 2021 and was voted captain again when he re-joined the team in 2023.

Goff and Anzalone have been captains for the entirety of the Lions tenure since joining the team as two of the first acquisitions by general manager Brad Holmes in the 2021 offseason. The Lions flipped quarterback Matthew Stafford — their opponent on Sunday — for Goff and a bundle of picks that became contributors on the current team, while Anzalone signed as a free agent. Earlier on Monday, Campbell stressed Goff’s importance to the team.

“I think (Goff) just wants more, and he continues to challenge himself and the more he does that, the more we load him up,” Campbell said. “The more we ask him to do, the more we put on his plate because he can handle it and he wants it. So, where he’s able to go, our offense is able to go. So, we ask him to do a lot, and we’re going to ask him to do a little bit more than he did last year because he can handle it. He’s proven that.”

Goff, St. Brown and Sewell all signed long-term extensions this offseasson to stick in Detroit for the foreseeable future. St. Brown and Sewell are coming off first-team All-Pro seasons, becoming the first Holmes draft picks to be extended by the team. Reeves-Maybin is coming off a second-team All-Pro nod for his special teams prowess, and Goff and Hutchinson are coming off a Pro Bowl appearance.