The nonprofit
Rush founded 2222INC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit built around the daily count — turning awareness into direct support for veterans and their families.
The story
Soldier.
Chef.
Advocate.
Andre “Chef” Rush cooked for four administrations, served twenty-three years in the U.S. Army, and turned one viral photograph into a daily mission for the veterans the country keeps losing.
Master Sgt. U.S. Army, Ret. · Columbus, Mississippi
From the rural South
A long way from
Columbus, Mississippi
The path from a small town in Mississippi to the kitchens of the White House did not run in a straight line — it ran through basic training, a combat zone, and a nation’s worst morning.
Andre Rush enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1993. Over twenty-three years in uniform he became a hand-to-hand combat instructor and a food-service trainer, deployed to Iraq as a combat veteran, and was serving at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. He retired a Master Sergeant.
Cooking was the constant. Rush trained his way to master chef, sommelier, and ice carver, earned more than 150 culinary medals, and joined the U.S. Culinary Arts Team. Beginning in 1997 he cooked at the White House on an event and support basis across four administrations — Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, and Trump — plating state dinners for the highest office in the country.
The discipline of the Army and the precision of the kitchen were never separate crafts. They are the same one, carried from the rural South all the way to Pennsylvania Avenue.
23Years of service
4Administrations served
150+Culinary medals
2,222Push-ups daily
Service record
The timeline
1974
Born in Mississippi
Columbus, MS · Sept 7
1993
Enlists, U.S. Army
Combat instructor · Food-service trainer
1997
First White House kitchen
Event & support basis · State dinners
2001
At the Pentagon on 9/11
In uniform · In service
2000s
Combat service in Iraq
Combat veteran · Deployed
2016
Retires Master Sergeant
~23 years · 150+ culinary medals
2018
The photo goes viral
24-inch biceps · A national platform
2022
Publishes his memoir
Call Me Chef, Dammit! · Harper Horizon
June 2018Biceps · one frame
The photo
One frame,
a whole platform
In June 2018, a photograph taken at a White House event went viral for Chef Rush’s twenty-four-inch biceps. The internet ran with it — memes, headlines, and a flood of media offers arrived overnight.
Rush used the attention for something bigger than a viral moment. The same photo that turned him into an overnight sensation became the megaphone for a cause he had already been carrying every single day: the veterans the country loses to suicide. The image opened the door. The mission is what walked through it.
The 2,222 mission
22 a day is
22 too many
Every day, Chef Rush performs 2,222 push-ups. The number is deliberate: an estimated 22 veterans die by suicide each day. The daily count is how he refuses to let that statistic fade into the background — a physical act of remembrance repeated until the world is paying attention.
2,222 push-ups, every day, for the 22 veterans lost each day.
Push-ups. Every day.For the 22 lost each day
USAA partnership
A partner in USAA's Face the Fight, a coalition confronting veteran suicide head-on and moving the country toward zero.
The wider work
Beyond veterans: mentoring underprivileged kids, standing against bullying, and speaking openly about mental health.
If you or someone you know is struggling
Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — available 24/7, free and confidential, for everyone including veterans and service members. Dial 988, then press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line.
What’s next
Bring the story
to your stage
Keynotes, culinary consulting, and media appearances — every engagement carries the mission forward. Or start with the memoir.