How Reviresco Began
In 2014, our co-founders (both ROTC cadets at the time) developed a passion for civilian-military relations. As future officers, their vision was to raise money to donate to pre-existing veteran organizations.
While devising a way to help bridge the civ-mil divide, our co-founders came across a Forbes article labeling Houston, Texas as the number one place for veterans to retire. Both co-founders were ROTC cadets at the University of Delaware, and with Delaware as the “first official state”, they saw an instant connection. Delaware represented the first official entity our military protected and Houston represented where many veterans stand at the end of their careers. With that in mind, their plan seemed obvious: run from Delaware to Houston in order to raise money to help further bridge the civ-mil divide.
That summer, Reviresco was composed of 6 ROTC cadets from the University of Delaware and they completed the 1,700 mile run in just over 20 days. They chose the name Reviresco because of its Latin meaning “to become renewed”, and that was exactly what they wanted to do with the civilian role in civilian-military relations.
The team raised over $13,000 that summer and donated it to Team RWB and Got Your 6. During the first cross-country run the team quickly realized the only concepts most people understood regarding veterans were “hero”, “PTSD”, and how to say, “Thank you for your service.” The team felt the only way to help civilians better understand the veteran population was by helping them go beyond just saying, “Thank you for your service.”
Veterans are an essential aspect of diversity within any successful business, but their talents are only optimized if their employers understand how to engage with them and cultivate trust. We knew this was a need Reviresco could meet by talking to and educating business students. By helping future business leaders ask the right questions, engage with veteran employees, and empower them to build a diverse team of veterans founded on trust, we know that businesses will see a stronger community and improved overall performance.
Reviresco’s last run was in the summer of 2017, and since then, the team has focused solely on their educational mission.