Tewksbury Police Officers Participating In Home Base No Shave Campaign

TEWKSBURY, MA —The Tewksbury Police Department has announced that it will be helping military veterans by participating in the Home Base No Shave campaign in November.

The 8th annual campaign raises awareness and funds for critical care that helps veterans and their families heal from invisible wounds, such as post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.

The campaign is sponsored by Home Base, a national nonprofit that was founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and the Boston Red Sox.

"All of us (at the Tewksbury PD) have individually pledged to donate and/or fundraise $100 for this cause," the Tewksbury PD said in a statement. "Please consider donating to our department's page. This is a great way for our community to make an impact, together."

Donations can be made online. As of Monday, the department had raised $627 toward its $3,000 goal.

In 2021, 135 police departments in New England participated in the Home Base No Shave campaign.

To date, this campaign has raised over $1.2 million to fund critical mental health and brain injury care, all at no cost for the wounded and injured service members and their families.

Over the years, Home Base has served more than 30,000 veterans and their family members and trained over 85,000 clinicians across the nation.

The charity itself began after the Red Sox' 2007 World Series victory, when players and owners met with wounded veterans at Walter Reed Medical Center in Virginia.

After the meeting, Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner made a commitment to help address the invisible wounds of war. The organization soon struck up a partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital and formed Home Base.

In a 2017 interview in Boston Magazine, Werner described the trip to Walter Reed Medical Center.

"We thought it was important to visit Walter Reed Hospital as well as the White House," Werner said. "I spoke with one of the chief administrators of Walter Reed, who was talking about the fact that so many soldiers are coming back after Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.

"I thought he would say 15 percent — he said it could be as much as 50 percent. On the flight back, I talked with the team doctor about what we could do."