Operation Engage America is an organization that is empowering the veteran community to move past Post Traumatic Stress to a life of Post Traumatic Growth and a thriving future.
Their Third Annual Veteran Resource Fair and Fun Run/Walk will be held at the Liberty Station Conference Center in San Diego on 6/18 from 9am to 3pm, with the 5K Fun Run/Walk being held from 7:30 to 9am (Meet up at the USS Recruit).
This event is free to the public.
The themes of this year’s conference are: Caregiver Support and Chemistry not Character. The purpose of this annual event is to bring together all of the Veteran Community and the local resources that are available here in San Diego to help them with PTS, TBI and other transitioning issues. The goal of this year’s event is to enable veterans and their caregivers and families to successfully reintegrate into the community and thrive in their daily lives.
Media Opportunities
• Howard and Jean Somers are available for interviews, as well as Heidi Kraft and Ryan Loya, both prior to the event and also on the day of the event. Melissa Comeau will be available on the day of the event
• Produced Public Service Announcements are available by contacting our PR Coordinator
• We are asking that prominent members of media and of the Greater San Diego Community join us in the Fun Run/Walk
• For more information about Operation Engage America, please visit their website: www.operationengageamerica.org and their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/operationengageamerica/
About Our Speakers
The Keynote Speaker is Heidi Kraft, PhD, of Psych Armor. Heidi is a Navy veteran and is the author of the book Rule Number Two, a memoir of her experience of being deployed to western Iraq for seven months with a Marine Corps surgical company when her boy and girl twins were fifteen months old.
Other speakers featured at this event are Chaplain Larry Taylor, Chief of Chaplain Services at the San Diego VA, Melissa Comeau, author and Elizabeth Dole Foundation Fellow, and Ryan Loya, an active duty Marine and Board member of Honoring Our Troops, an organization that addresses the unique needs of veterans through self- help legal clinics, veteran-oriented seminars, and mentorships which empower the lives of veterans and their families. Loya suffered traumatic brain injury when he was blasted by a 30-pound improvised explosive device and came to as he was being pulled out of a river.
Operation Engage America was started by the parents of CA Army National Guardsman SGT Daniel Somers. Daniel lost his battle with PTS on June 10, 2013, and in his honor his parents, Dr. Howard and Jean Somers are turning their pain into action to make sure that others are empowered with the answers and the assistance that they need when either they or a loved one are struggling with PTS.
Contact:
PR Coordinator
Lynn Sarkany, Marketfinders
(888) 653-7810, Direct: (818)974-1664
or Email: [email protected]
