“Saluting Our Heroes” Brings Community Support for Active Duty and Veteran Service Members.

The National Ability Center Monday announced its annual “Saluting Our Heroes” luncheon event, honoring United States active duty and veteran service members. Held Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, “Saluting Our Heroes,” pays tribute to the brave men and women who have sacrificed and served the United States heroically in the face of conflicts around the globe. The event highlights the important work organizations and companies, such as the National Ability Center, are doing to provide cutting-edge care and rehabilitation to active duty, veterans and their families, who have sustained disabilities due to the cost of war.

“Warriors and their families deserve high-quality, non-institutional environments where they can truly connect and heal,” said Gail Loveland, National Ability Center’s executive director. “Since 1985, the National Ability Center has served thousands of veterans, active duty soldiers and their families through programs that support and challenge them to learn new skills, set higher goals, improve communication, encourage relatedness and extend their reach beyond perceived limits. All funds raised from the ‘Saluting Our Heroes’ luncheon directly support these instrumental programs for military service members and their families.”

‘Saluting Our Heroes’ is designed to not only help support our military programs, but also to focus more attention on the service-people who return from tours of duty and suddenly face serious physical and emotional problems.

The annual “Saluting Our Heroes” event is free to the public, but registration is required by visiting www.discovernac.org/saluting-our-heroes. Donations and company sponsorships of the event are encouraged and can be made by contacting Julia Rametta at juliar@discovernac.org or 435.200.0990.

The keynote speaker for this year’s event is David W. Checketts, chairman and CEO of Legends. Checketts is one of the most seasoned and well-known sports, media and entertainment executives in the industry. Legends is responsible for the design, construction and operations of the One World Observatory at One World Trade Center in New York City. Prior to Legends, Checketts founded SCP Worldwide, which owned and operated assets, such as Real Salt Lake, Rio Tinto Stadium and ESPN 700 Sports Talk Radio. Checketts’ herald career includes 10 years as CEO and president of Madison Square Garden and the impressive feat of becoming the youngest chief executive in the history of the NBA as president and general manager of the Utah Jazz.

Governor Gary Herbert will be in attendance as a special guest at this year’s event. “Saluting Our Heroes” title sponsor is The Boeing Company, and Mick Warner, owner of MacCools Public House, is the event’s corporate honoree. Additional sponsors include George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, Big-D Construction, Zions Bank, Questar, Steve Schmidt, Semnani Family Foundation, L3 Communications, Kirton McConkie, ABC4, Salt Lake Magazine, Northrop Grumman, OK3 Air, BAE Systems, Performance Mobility and Del Taco.

“’Saluting Our Heroes’ is designed to not only help support our military programs, but also to focus more attention on the service-people who return from tours of duty and suddenly face serious physical and emotional problems,” said Loveland. “Our programs currently serve over 4,100 individuals of all abilities and their family members each year through 28,000 lessons and experiences within a wide variety of sports, recreation and educational activities. Participants come from all socioeconomic backgrounds, from all 50 US states and 18 countries around the globe.”

To learn more about the “Saluting Our Heroes” luncheon or the National Ability Center, contact Christa Graff with Graff Public Relations, LLC, at 435.640.7921 or christa@graffpr.com. Additional information about the event is available at www.discovernac.org/saluting-our-heroes.