Army veteran Mara Collins has grown accustomed to many hardships over the years. When she first heard a group of total strangers had paid off her six-figure medical debts, she thought it was “too good to be true.”

Collins was left to care for their two young children after her husband, Army Sgt. David Collins was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006.

Following her military service, Collins faced another life-changing challenge on a wintery day in Colorado in 2017, when she was involved in a vehicle rollover crash.

She survived, but with extensive injuries to her face. She received major reconstructive surgery and accumulated some $340,000 in medical debt as a result.

“Having the debt of a house without the luxury of a house was pretty stressful,” Collins told The Epoch Times.

In September, Collins received a notification of a change to her credit score.

Upon further investigation, she was told her medical liabilities had been wiped out as part of a debt forgiveness campaign through a company called ForgiveCo.

Still skeptical, she continued to press for information and eventually connected with ForgiveCo’s co-founder, Erik Antico.

Antico informed Collins that the veteran-owned apparel company Born Primitive and the veteran-owned Black Rifle Coffee Company had sponsored a campaign that had paid off her debt.

She was finally and truly convinced it wasn’t a scam when Born Primitive CEO Bear Handlon and Black Rifle Coffee Company co-founder Mat Best paid her a visit on Sept. 22.

“I’m beyond grateful for everything that they have done,” she said.

The debt forgiveness Collins received is part of a larger campaign Born Primitive and Black Rifle Coffee Company sponsored through ForgiveCo.

Collins and a few other veterans were early beneficiaries of the campaign, which is set to continue from Nov. 7 to Nov. 11.

During that timespan, Born Primitive and Black Rifle Coffee Company have pledged to donate all of their proceeds to paying medical debt of military veterans around the country.

ForgiveCo, the company enabling this debt-forgiveness campaign, is a public benefit corporation that purchases distressed, unpaid debts in bulk from collection agencies at a fraction of their original cost.

Businesses and organizations seeking to make a positive impact can then pledge to pay off the debts that ForgiveCo has acquired.

Born Primitive and Black Rifle Coffee Company have set a goal for their campaign to pay off $25 million worth of veteran medical debts.

Lynzi Felder, another Army veteran and early beneficiary of the campaign, saw more than $11,000 in medical debt wiped out.

Just like Collins, Fedler recalled being highly skeptical when she first saw the debt forgiveness notification in September.

Until recently, Felder said she had simply accepted that she would carry that financial burden “for a long time, if not forever.”

To help clear up her skepticism, Handlon and Best invited Felder—a resident of Newport News, Virginia—down to a Born Primitive storefront in Virginia Beach to meet in person.

Army veteran Lynzi Felder (L) meets and shakes hands with Born Primitive CEO and Navy SEAL veteran Bear Handlon (C) and Black Rifle Coffee Company co-founder and Army Ranger veteran Mat Best (R). (Courtesy of Born Primitive)

“It was kind of insane, actually, like in the best way possible,” Felder said of the whole experience.

Handlon, a Navy SEAL veteran who co-founded Born Primitive, said his and Black Rifle Coffee Company’s customers would ultimately determine the success of their Veterans Day campaign.

“I think it’s critical for the customers to know, ‘Hey, you guys actually deserve the credit. Not me,’” Handlon told The Epoch Times. “I’m just simply facilitating kind of a cool thing.”

Handlon launched a similar campaign with ForgiveCo last year, with his company’s profits going to pay off more than $11 million in veteran medical debt.

Following the success of the first year, Handlon said he asked Black Rifle Coffee Company to join him this year and expand the effort. The veteran-owned coffee company was eager to join.

“Wiping out $25 million in veteran medical debt isn’t charity, it’s a promise. A promise that we stand together, shoulder to shoulder, just like we did in the fight. Because when one of us carries a burden, all of us do,” said Best, a former Army Ranger veteran.

Handlon wants to continue doing these kinds of debt forgiveness campaigns for veterans on a regular basis.

He told The Epoch Times he has spoken to other businesses interested in joining the effort, just as Black Rifle Coffee Company did this year.

Felder said Handlon and Best had, through their efforts thus far, already shown a sincere commitment to helping the veteran community.

“It’s a good reminder that, for the military, even when we’re out, even if we didn’t work together, even if we didn’t serve necessarily together, we are brothers and sisters in arms,” she said.