A celebration for Operation Motorsport was held at the home of the founders of the organization in Brighton.
Diesel and Tiffany Lodder started the organization last year to help veterans.
Their mission statement is “to engage, through Motorsports opportunities, ill, injured and wounded Service Members and disabled Veterans, affected by military service, leading to aiding in their recovery and rehabilitation.”
Operation Motorsport is a Veteran Led and Operated, Not for Profit, based in Brighton, Ontario, serving Canadian & American service members and veterans and was founded on the basis of three simple words: Excite, Engage and Empower. The premise is to engage ill and injured Service Members and veterans affected by military service, through Motorsport activities to aid in their recovery and rehabilitation.
A number of beneficiaries who are teamed up with race teams were at the ceremony on Thursday, July 5, 2018 along with sponsors, teams and race officials.
CEO of Operation Motorsport Diesel Lodder said it’s been a long, but rewarding year.
“Today is a year of hard work, a year of things we never imagined that we could do.”
“This has been 365 days of a place we never thought we’d be. It’s been an emotional roller coaster, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”
There has been 164 days of individual recovery throughout the year when a beneficiary (veteran) has been embedded with a racing team.
There have been 23 actively engaged veterans in the program and 12 more waiting for a team to sponsor them.
“Many of the beneficiaries that came in this year are now going to be in the Engage Program.”
“Engage is the next step in their recovery process. Whether that means they decide that they want to go back to school, or it just means they are going to hang out with car guys. They’re engaging themselves and surroundings through motorsports.”
Member of Parliament for Northumberland/Peterborough South, Kim Rudd was also in attendance and spoke to a number of individuals who have benefited from associating with Operation Motorsport.
“I’m not very often at a loss for words, but this does.”
“This is such an amazing programs that helps our veterans.”
“The stories that we’ve just heard from the Americans and the Canadians and the way they are working together. More people need to know about this.”
One beneficiary was a veteran from the United States who read a statement from a member of the House of Representatives about Operation Motorsport.
The statement read that Canada and the U.S. have fought wars together, share borders, share families and through Operation Motorsport, veterans on both sides of the border are receiving the experience of the organization.
“These are people that have given so much to life we get to live here and we can never say thank you enough.”
For more information click below
http://operationmotorsport.org/
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
