Ford is partnering with veterans teams like Blue Star Households and Guitars 4 Vets to let veterans and their households drive Broncos on an off-road course.
Ford Motor Co. partnered with veterans teams to host veterans and their households at their Bronco Off-Roadeo occasion in Texas.
Final month, about 200 veterans, survivors, army members and their households participated within the occasion at Ford’s facility in Horseshoe Bay, Texas. It featured a 4 hour off-road journey, sharing periods, motivational audio system, a particular dinner, stay music from Guitars 4 Vets in addition to entry to job placement and veterans providers.
The individuals included 70 Gold Star members of the family in addition to Purple Coronary heart recipients and members of veterans teams akin to Blue Star Households, TAPS, Travis Manion Basis and Guitars 4 Vets. Ford’s path guides on the off-road course additionally included many veterans to assist deepen that sense of fellowship amongst these in attendance.
“We’re super excited about this Bronco Off-Road Roadeo that Ford is doing for a number of military and veteran families,” Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of Blue Star Households and the partner of a Marine veteran, advised FOX Enterprise in an interview. “They’re taking families on an amazing adventure, up and down boulders building camaraderie and excitement.”
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“But it’s not just about this great day out and this time of showing appreciation to the folks who have served and their family, it’s all about sharing the resources that are out there for families,” she defined. Roth-Bouquet added that the occasion additionally provides the varied veterans teams readily available a chance to attach and discover methods to work collectively.
Nigel Fischer, director of development at Guitars for Vets and a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, advised FOX Enterprise that the group’s performances at occasions just like the Bronco Off-Roadeo assist showcase that veterans who could have suffered accidents over the course of their service to the nation can proceed to carry out.
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“The music is great, but we really showcase the adaptive qualities of our program and how we teach veterans that may have some physical issues that may prevent them from adapting to the style of playing that many others that don’t have those physical limitations might have challenges with,” he stated.
“It’s really neat to be able to share that in person and a lot of veterans will find us for the very first time by participating in this event, and then seeing that firsthand. There’s no better example of what can be done than those testimonies of each of our folks that are here participating in the performance tonight, and then being able to get out among the crowd as dinner continues and answer questions about what their experience was like with the program,” Fischer stated.
Ford additionally introduced a few of their human sources crew to assist place veterans and members of the reserve forces in jobs.
“They’re making a point to hire veterans, they’re hiring folks who are doing reserve duty. We want to ask all employers to do that because we need a reserve force. Forty percent of our deployed forces right now are reserve or National Guard, so if employers don’t make it possible for people to work and do their reserve service, we’re not going to be able to take care of the country,” Roth-Douquet stated.
Employees from the Division of Veterans Affairs have been additionally readily available to assist veterans entry providers or tackle points that had beforehand prevented them from doing so.
FORD HONORS VETERANS, MILITARY COMMUNITY WITH SPECIAL BRONCO OFF-ROADEO EVENT
Fischer stated that when he retired from the Marine Corps in 2013, he had “a little bit of a rocky start with the VA” and stated that “I think some veterans have heard some of those stories from peers, and we rely on that peer feedback a lot to help guide us as we transition.”
“What I discovered within the past year is that there have been immense changes in terms of the quality of the service, the quality of the care, the quality of the processing of disability claims, and I found that to be absolutely true because I took that opportunity to renew my relationship with the VA through events like this,” Fischer stated.
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“I approached the VA and said, ‘I’d really like to get connected with you again because from what I’ve heard, I will get better care than I might otherwise see in the civilian sector,'” he defined. “I’m really pleased to be able to share with you that through the course of that adventure and my own journey of seeking care again with the VA, it has been nothing less than top notch, so that is an important aspect of what we’re doing here.”
