Organizers with Paralyzed Veterans of American recently held a successful 2016 Mission: ABLE Awards event to honor the award recipients for this year, with approximately 435 guests in attendance.
The goal of the awards is to honor organizations and individuals who are committed to transforming America into a nation where disabled heroes can live full lives with access to benefits, health care and jobs.
For 2016, the awards raised a total of $631,000 from various corporate sponsors. These funds will be used for services and programs that benefit paralyzed and disabled veterans across the U.S. Such benefits include rehabilitative sports opportunities, employment assistance and more, which are offered to veterans for free.
Attendees included Gov. Terry McAuliffe, distinguished service members, supporters of Paralyzed Veterans, Washington dignitaries, friends and veterans.
The master of ceremonies was Larry Michael, known as the “voice of the Washington Redskins,” and the keynote address came from Vice Admiral Raquel Bono, director of the Defense Health Agency.
"What Paralyzed Veterans of America does with advocacy and research is powerful for our health care system for those who wear the uniform," Bono said.
In 2015, Paralyzed Veterans raised over $1 billion in VA benefits, giving 407 veterans jobs in the Operation PAVE program.
