- April 28, 2026
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Most nonprofits offer something tangible. A veteran might receive a service dog from Dogs, Inc. or a home from the Tunnels to Towers Foundation.
What made Joe Leach, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, volunteer to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to Antigua in 2023 was something intangible.
In 2017, a man wanted to throw himself off a bridge, but he had seen another team of veterans on social media rowing to Antigua with the nonprofit Fight Oar Die. The man told his wife, "If they can row an ocean, I can live another day.”
“That’s what got me the first time," Leach said. "Then, I did it and could see the impact it was having. I can’t tell you how many lives we saved, but I know we saved lives.”
Leach will be rowing for the nonprofit Foar the Brave in June. The nonprofit sponsors the “World’s Toughest Row,” 2,800 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Monterey, California to Hanalei, Hawaii to raise awareness for veteran suicide.
Veterans Affairs data from 2023 reported over 17 veterans die by suicide each day.
The tangible side of Foar the Brave is that any additional funds raised support “results-driven charities addressing veteran suicide, mental health challenges, substance abuse and homelessness.”
About 250 East County residents gathered April 24 with a goal of raising $25,000 for the crew to set sail this June.
Manoj and Bonnie Mathew hosted the fundraiser in the cul-de-sac in front of their home in River Strand.
“If we save one life, it’s worth it,” Bonnie Mathew said as she bustled around, putting out more plates and steering guests to the silent auction table.
Leach noted that donations get the crew on the water, but they only have each other once they start rowing.
He estimated the mental and emotional strain at about 80-90% versus the physical strain. And Leach laid on his stomach for an entire day because the blistering on his backside was so intense he couldn’t sit down to row. The dried salt becomes like sandpaper.
The crew of four includes Leach, his college roommate and civilian John Pallasch, newly retired Special Forces Officer Ian Pienik and air traffic controller Steve Robinson.
Leach will serve as skipper and is the only member of the crew to have ever rowed across an ocean before. But instead of the Atlantic, he'll cross the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii this time.
The trip is estimated to take between 32 and 40 days. As long as the crew stays mentally strong, Leach said the trip is as spiritual as it is strenuous.
“Seeing the sunrise on the ocean with no light pollution is magical,” he said. “At night, you see lights, which look like lights on the shore, but they’re stars that are so far on the horizon that they’re parallel with the water line. And every once in a while, a bird lands on your head.”
