How One Non-Profit is Using Sports Gear Sales to Fund Wellness Programs for Veterans

WASHINGTON — A non-profit known as Operation Hat Trick has supported the recovery of wounded service members and veterans since 2008 by taking a portion of the sales of baseball caps and other sports gear and funding resources and programs aimed at enhancing their physical and mental health.

“Sports absorb your brain and put it in a positive space, and if you’re having a down day and do something you enjoy it pushes those bad or stressful thoughts out,” said Dot Sheehan, president and founder of Operation Hat Trick, during a phone call with The Well News. 

“No one we know of on the non-profit side has a business model like this,” continued Sheehan. 

Back in late 2007, Sheehan said she was working at the University of New Hampshire in college athletics and was listening to a Boston radio station where the question was posed as to what is the one thing that wounded soldiers want the most coming back from Afghanistan. 

“The answer was a baseball cap, because it covers wounds,” said Sheehan. 

That’s when the idea for Operation Hat Trick began to take form.

Sheehan and her team started by giving hats to service members with brain and head injuries, and then transitioned the model to try to use the merchandise to support the recovery of service members and veterans. 

Sheehan retired from the University of New Hampshire to focus entirely on the cause, and brought on board hundreds of volunteers to move the mission of helping veterans and service members forward. 

Unlike other veteran-focused non-profit organizations, Operation Hat Trick relies on donations to raise money. The co-branded apparel and merchandise is sold in conjunction with over 500 American colleges and universities, as well as the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball teams. 

The Operation Hat Trick branded merchandise includes items ranging from headwear, apparel, tailgate games, drinkware, jewelry, gifts, blankets, and pillows and is available through locations like Amazon, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Target. 

The royalties received from the sale of the sports merchandise are used to fund veterans-focused organizations, and so far, Operation Hat Trick has distributed funding to nearly 100 veteran organizations across 38 states. 

Since 2014, Operation Hat Trick has donated over $3 million in lifetime funding for wounded and recovering service members and veterans and nearly $2 million of the total raised has been distributed during the pandemic. 

The funds also help to pay for adaptive equipment for amputees, shoes for prosthetic legs, critical care, emergency rent, heating oil or car payments. 

The organization has even built a cabin for veterans’ summer camp and supported a bed in a substance abuse center.

They’ve also supported financing a food truck to help feed homeless veterans, invested heavily in retreats for veteran and service member families, and even supported securing a canine companion for a lonely veteran in need.

“The VA recently had a canine companion survey and determined that service dogs do help veterans,” said Sheehan.

One organization which has benefited from the Operation Hat Trick model is Northeast Passage, which got started in 2006 to create a recreational program to address veteran and active-duty service members mental and physical health needs.

The Northeast Passage provides free activity programs for veterans and active-duty service members, such as fly fishing, ice hockey, and art programs to help veterans transition to civilian life and build better community connections. 

“One of the biggest ways to combat both PTSD and isolation that veterans feel is developing strong community ties and strong connections. That’s what we are trying to focus on with our veteran recreation program,” said Jill Gravink, director of Northeast Passage, during a phone call with The Well News. 

Gravink said the funds from Operation Hat Trick allowed the organization to expand their art and recreation programs, such as buying turntables for wood carving classes.

“Now, it’s evolved into this situation where I know I can count on them [Operation Hat Trick] if we have a new project for veterans that we want to try, and if we need a little more support to make sure we can fulfill a full schedule of activities,” said Gravink.

Alexa can be reached at [email protected]