Workout Anytime is participating in the “Lift for the 22” campaign to give free, one-year gym memberships to 22 local veterans. (CONTRIBUTED)

HUNTSVILLE – On Veterans Day on Nov. 11, Workout Anytime gym will launch its partnership with “Lift for the 22” to give free one-year gym memberships to 22 local veterans.

All 85 locations of Workout Anytime across the country, including the gym near Madison, are participating.

Carter Davis founded “Lift for the 22” after he came home from military service. Davis experienced his own battles with loneliness, depression and divorce. Eventually, he checked himself into a Veterans Administration hospital but just didn’t receive the help he needed.

Lift for the 22 is a transitional support organization for veterans who can network across the fitness industry. The program is designed to decrease veteran suicides, due to transitional depression, anxiety and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The program’s name acknowledges the 22 veterans who commit suicide daily.

Lift for the 22 relies on five key transitional areas:

* Fitness support — Regaining their fitness identity after returning home from military service. The regimen increases positive hormone response, self-esteem and confidence.

* Emotional support — Working and talking together about their experiences during service.

* Professional development — Helping each other in job searches and resume writing.

* Brotherhood trust — Revives common goals and interests from military service.

* Friendship support — Forge friendships and recognize a veteran in crisis, who is involved with alcohol abuse or mood swings.

Jeff Terry, himself a veteran, is general manager of Workout Anytime near Madison. He was in the naval construction battalion as part of the evacuation of Saigon, Vietnam and previously worked as a personal trainer on Redstone Arsenal.

Veterans can apply for a free membership by visiting liftforthe22.com/apply.php.

Workout Anytime’s address is 5510 Promenade Point Pkwy NW, Suite 150. For more information, call 256-325-4344 or visit workoutanytime.com/Madison.