RIVERSIDE, Iowa, Sept. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- More than 200 Veterans from around the country will take part in the 2024 National Disabled Veterans Golf Clinic, September 8–13, in and around Iowa City, Iowa. The event focuses on providing adaptive golf and other rehabilitative activities for disabled Veterans as part of their therapy and care plans.
Participants are Veterans with blindness or limited vision, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, limb loss and other life-changing injuries.
DAV (Disabled American Veterans) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) co-present the six-day clinic with support from businesses, nonprofit organizations and individual donors.
“The Golf Clinic is an example of VA’s whole health approach to serving Veterans,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Shareef Elnahal, M.D. “By helping Veterans engage in leisure activities through recreation therapy and adaptive sports, we can help them discover more ways to balance a healthy lifestyle and build community with other Veterans.”
“I am a living testament to the therapeutic and mental benefits of clinics like this one,” said Dave Riley, the clinic chairman. “As a quadruple amputee, it wasn’t until I was introduced to adaptive sports that my outlook on life changed, learning I could enjoy many of the activities I did before losing my limbs nearly 30 years ago. It’s incredibly powerful getting to witness other Veterans have that same life-changing discovery out on these courses throughout the week.”
“Through this golf clinic, Veterans forever changed by their service will gain new life skills to better adapt to their illness or injury as well as grow their community of support,” said DAV National Commander Daniel Contreras. “We are proud to co-present this clinic with our partners at the VA because year after year we see the positive outcomes it generates for participants and their caregivers.”
More than 400 volunteers and VA staff are expected to donate their time and efforts to the event, which is hosted by the Iowa City VA Health Care System.
For more information, visit VeteransGolfClinic.org.
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About DAV
DAV empowers veterans to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity. It is dedicated to a single purpose: keeping our promise to America’s veterans. DAV does this by ensuring that veterans and their families can access the full range of benefits available to them, fighting for the interests of America’s injured heroes on Capitol Hill, providing employment resources to veterans and their families, and educating the public about the great sacrifices and needs of veterans transitioning back to civilian life. DAV, a nonprofit organization with nearly 1 million members, was founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932. Learn more at dav.org.
Brian Buckwalter
DAV (Disabled American Veterans)
513-235-6090
bbuckwalter@dav.org
Janelle Beswick
VA
720-364-4102
janelle.beswick@va.gov