VP of Nashua business helps organization reintegrate veterans into outdoor activities

BRAINTREE, Mass. – The New England painting and glazing industry is kicking off a fundraising campaign for a fledgling nonprofit that helps disabled veterans reintegrate into outdoor activities. Get Back Outdoors, a 100 percent volunteer organization, is delivering happiness, confidence and connection to disabled veterans. Tom Steeves, vice president of T.J. McCartney Co., of Nashua, and vice president of the Painting Finishing Employers Association of New England, spearheaded the effort to fund a bear hunt this spring. Get Back Outdoors is proving a new kind of loyalty to disabled vets:  long-term commitment to their complete reintegration into outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing and white-water rafting. The program will do whatever it takes to outfit, license, secure land and transport veterans at no cost to them. And it isn’t just a single trip: Get Back Outdoors stays engaged with individuals for as long as it takes to connect them with the tools, skills, confidence and the outdoor companions required to send them out of the program fully capable of continuing their activities independently of the organization. “There’s not one big paintbrush to cover everybody,” said Larry Osmer, president.