West Lafayette & Lafayette Mayors welcome Military Veteran Project to honor fallen veterans.9/25/2016 The mayors of Lafayette and West Lafayette, Indiana, home of Purdue University, joined Tammy Holcomb, Senior Site Director, Jacob Kramer, Director of Talent Acquisition and Ken Muché, Director of Global Public Relations, for a news conference at the local Alorica office. Muché shared with reporters and business leaders that the company was hiring 175 new team members immediately and talked about Alorica’s distinctive culture and commitment to the community through MLBA.
To illustrate that commitment, the Lafayette MLBA chapter announced a partnership with Military Veteran Project (MVP) to help prevent suicide among our country’s veterans. On hand was Melissa Jarboe, founder of MVP and a Gold Star Family Member, who explained that, on average, 22 veterans commit suicide every day in the U.S. Jarboe, and both mayors, expressed sincere gratitude for Alorica’s embrace of this critical issue and thanked the company for hiring several local veterans in Lafayette. With the local TV station's camera rolling, speakers and attendees joined together in a symbolic gesture to raise awareness of this issue, placing small American flags in 22 pairs of military boots. Sitting atop each pair was a photo of a veteran in uniform who died by their own hand. Every life is worth saving, and through MLBA, we’re doing our part to help those who have sacrificed so much. Key news coverage of these announcements included stories by 14-News (NBC, Evansville), the OwensboroMessenger-Inquirer, WLFI-TV (CBS, West Lafayette) and the Lafayette Journal & Courier.
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Special guest Melissa Jarboe, founder of the Military Veteran Project will be on-hand to discuss the project and its partnership with Alorica Lafayette, along with Mayor Tony Raswarski and Mayor John Dennis. So if you’ve been thinking about a new career – and you enjoy free refreshments – you won’t want to miss this!
This isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill, ho-hum, every day Meet & Greet. But then again, Alorica isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill, ho-hum, every day company. And that’s why we’re inviting you to come down, get to know us, and get hired – on the spot! We’re looking to add some dedicated, passionate, awesome individuals to our team, and we want it to be the right opportunity for you. So ask us questions. Learn about the positions available. Explore our company culture and the things that make us unique.
Greetings! First, please allow me to thank you, personally for your ongoing support of the Military Veteran Project and for your willingness to help me carry on Jamie's wish to care for his fellow soldiers. When I created the Topeka Veterans Parade, I wanted to show our veterans their services and sacrifices were and will not be forgotten. Together with a group of wonderful supporters we have created theSalute Our Heroes Festival to umbrella the Topeka Veterans Paradeand we’ve added new attractions that will promote and capture the spirit of the freedom we use each day as a way of saying Thank You to our veterans! Last year, we had over 5,000 people attend and participate and I know we can reach 10,000 this year! The Salute Our Heroes Festival is kicking off a variety of small pocket events from 9am-2pm Saturday, November 5, 2016 around the State Capitol leading up to the Topeka Veterans Parade at 11am as the main event. As many as a dozen food trucks are expected at the festival, Cars will be lined up for car show, Motorcycles and bikes are coming from Missouri, Colorado and Nebraska for the bike show, added with the kids festival for the kiddos to have fun and with new entries everyday. If you would like to register as a participant in the Topeka Veterans Parade, Bike or Car Show, Food Truck, Vendor, Volunteer or help sponsor and help Salute Our Heroes please click one of the buttons below. If it wasn't for you and your continued support, the Military Veteran Project would not be able to continue its mission and for that I am forever thankful to you, your business and community as a whole. Very Respectfully, Melissa D. Jarboe More information below!Following in the footsteps of comedy greats like Bob Hope and Robin Williams, for a number of years, Richmond took himself out of the theatre atmosphere and performed his edgy comedic stylings for U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California and overseas in Japan, Korea and Guam.
“The goal of any comedy routine is to connect with the audience. Once you’ve done that, it’s a feeling like nothing else,” said Richmond. During his time spent with the men and women in uniform, Richmond was inspired to produce his own show, in order to capture the magic that occurs when these Marines are liberated by laughter. In “Comedy from the Corps”, Adam Richmond captures his unedited, uncensored comedy performance that takes place in front of three brigades of Marines at an active aircraft hangar in front of a Osprey helicopter. For the special, Richmond is joined by comedians Erik Knowles, Heather Marie Zagone, Todd Rex and Jennifer Murphy, all of whom have been featured on The Tonight Show, Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing, Conan O’Brien and more. With cameras rolling, Richmond captures what can happen when some of the highest calibre comedians show these Marines the world through the lens of humour. “This is one way that I can support our men and women in uniform and say thank-you to the Marines for all their sacrifices they have made,” said Richmond. Before taking on the production of “Comedy from the Corps”, Richmond performed across the country and in some of the most well known comedy tours, including Canada’s Yuk Yuk’s tour, NBC’s Last Comic Standing, and Last Call with Carson Daly. For six years, Richmond ran the show at the world famous Hollywood improv known as “Richmond’s House of Comedy” or RHOC Today, he continues to grace the stage at the Comedy Store, The Icehouse and the Improv Comedy Clubs. While raising funds for the production of “Comedy from the Corps”, Richmond also raised funds for The Military Veteran Project, a volunteer driven charity committed to the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and suicide prevention for pre and post 911 veterans. “We want to make laughter showcase the relationship between comedians and the military, while at the same time raising money for a wonderful cause,” said Richmond. For the Marines, “Comedy from the Corps” provides a chance to let go, reduce stress and boost camp moral. “Comedy is a really is the best medicine and with these performances, we really want to show these guys the healing power of comedy,” said Richmond. “Helping someone forget about their problems for a little while is the best part about comedy.” Richmond has just completed the filming of “Comedy from the Corps” and is excited for audiences to see his experience of spreading laughter amongst the troops. Follow him by clicking here. #NationalSuicidePrevention My name is Carrie Reilly, I am the widow of SGT Shawn Reilly, who in October 2011 lost his life to suicide. My name is Carrie Reilly, I am the widow of SGT Shawn Reilly, who in October 2011 lost his life to suicide. So many Veterans today are losing their lives to suicide at an alarming rate and something really needs to be done to help them. When my husband died I made a promise to myself to do what I could to help prevent Veteran suicide. Written By: Delaney Higert A little over three years ago, a Massachusetts mother, seven months pregnant at the time, was violently attacked in her home by her then-husband, a combat veteran who had a history of aggression and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Some 6,500 miles across the world, in Zhari, Afghanistan, a Unites States infantryman from Connecticut stepped on an IED, resulting in the loss of his left arm and leg. These two individuals, with their uniquely tragic stories, were drawn to the Military Veteran Project (MVP), a national non-profit that is committed to prevention of military suicide through treatment and research. What they found, instead, was a loving spouse. Zac and Allie Gore, who met through MVP in the fall of 2014, married this June and had their first child on Aug. 10 – a little girl named Lilly. The pair now lives in Connecticut, raising the newborn and their three other children from Allie’s first marriage – Ashlyn, 5, Brogan, 4, and Finn, 3. A move in the right direction Zac Gore, 30, was sent to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio after the IED explosion in 2013. He recovered at BAMC and was sent to El Paso, Texas where he had been stationed before his deployment. “Once I got back to El Paso, they didn’t really know how to handle someone with my type of injuries. They had never really had anyone like that before,” he said. “My wife at the time wasn’t really happy with the treatment and care that I was getting.” Upon his previous wife’s request, Military Veteran Project took on his case, he said. After a few weeks of phone discussions about his medical care, Zac Gore said Jarboe decided to visit him in Texas to ensure his treatment and rehabilitation would be handled properly. “She talked with everyone and figured out what the best course of action would be and got a lot of our paperwork straightened out, which was really good because there was a lot of things that I didn’t even know about that needed to be done,” he said. During the course of the following year, Zac Gore completed strenuous physical therapy, medically retired from the Army, obtained a divorce and said he found himself ready to move back to his home state of Connecticut. Once there, he became more involved with Military Veteran Project and said Jarboe helped find ways for him to reintegrate into the community by volunteering with the organization. One of those ways was for Zac to share his story for the annual MVP Salute Our Heroes Gala in Topeka, Kan. This gala, he said he later realized, helped him find his soul mate. An instant click An MVP Facebook group message had been created for the 2014 gala, the Gore’s said. In it, they had their first interaction. “I just put a message in their that thanked everyone for their service,” Allie Gore said. “And Zac sent a little embarrassed face emoji. So I messaged him outside of the group and just thanked him for his service again.” Allie couldn’t attend the gala, but the pair continued messaging until Zac returned home to Connecticut later that week. The day of Zac’s arrival – which Allie said she remembers was Tuesday, Nov. 5 – she happened to be in the same city as him for her job. She made the 15-minute drive to meet him and “really, everything took off from there,” she said. The duo went on their first date that Friday, Allie Gore said. “Then, two days later, he came up for dinner. And then he was with us every day ever since,” she said. “It was like that instant click. You just feel like you’ve known someone for your entire life. That instant click. Everything just felt right.” Allie and her children moved to Connecticut to live with Zac shortly after. “It was like that almost too good to be true feeling, “ Allie Gore said, “Everything fell into place perfectly.” After dating for roughly a year and half, the two were engaged and married by a Justice of the Peace two months later, on June 4. The Gore’s said they planned an Aug. 20 wedding date, but the news of their pregnancy changed things. Learning how to be strong Allie Gore, 29, said her involvement with Military Veteran Project started after the first domestic violence dispute with her ex-husband in 2013. “He completely lost it one day and smashed my head against the refrigerator. Then the SWAT team came and he had barricaded himself and our youngest in the house,” Allie Gore said. The case was severe enough for the Department of Children and Families to get involved, Allie Gore said, which is when she reached out to founder of MVP, Melissa Jarboe, for support. Jarboe and the organization helped Allie through her ensuing court dates, custody battles and domestic violence meetings with program support, she said. In the summer of 2014, Allie Gore said she moved back in to the home of her now ex-husband, after counseling, in an attempt to unite their family. This resulted in a second brutal attack, not a month after her return, that left Allie with temporal nerve damage, deep tissue and bone contusions and the need to undergo cortisone injections every six months to manage her continuing pain and headaches. When her spouse at the time was arrested, Allie Gore said, Jarboe was the first person she called. “I had an instant flow of support,” she said. “Eventually, I started making sure I was staying on the right path for me and my kids. And learning how to be strong for myself instead of dealing with everybody else.” With the help and support from the Military Veteran Project, Allie Gore said she persevered through the months that followed, filed for divorce and found herself ready to move into a VFW home with her three children. Then, she said, she met Zac. An MVP baby After suffering a miscarriage earlier in their relationship, Allie Gore said finding out about Lilly enthralled them. “When we knew we were having Lilly, it was just an, ‘Oh my god, it’s actually happening this time,’” she said. Once reality set in for the couple, they said they first reflected on how their paths crossed in the first place. The organization of MVP was started in honor of Jamie Jarboe, Melissa Jarboe’s husband who was wounded by a sniper’s bullet in Afghanistan and later passed away. The Gore’s said the reason for the non-profit’s creation is not lost on them. “It’s just crazy to think that none of this would have happened if Melissa would have never come into the picture,” Allie said of her new family. “We wouldn’t have known each other if we had never gotten involved with Melissa. So, Lilly is her pride and joy. Her MVP baby, as she calls her.” The Gore’s said that Jarboe played an important role in Lilly’s early life, even placing her name on the short list of people who received the first photograph of the family that included Lilly. “She cried when we sent her that first picture with Lilly,” Allie said, “And I think it’s because, you know, a life create a life, if that makes sense. Jamie’s passing created a new life.” A whole new world Zac and Allie Gore both agree that their newfound family was created through a course of miraculous events, starting with MVP. “We still talk with all of our MVP friends and volunteers,” Zac Gore said. “They’re more like family than anything now, though,” his wife chimed in. “And Melissa. She’s stuck with us, forever.” Zac is unable to work and Allie is his full-time caretaker, they said, so the couple plans on continuing to raise their family and helping to support MVP in the future. “We’re having our informal, formal wedding in October,” Allie Gore said. “It will just be at our home and we’re inviting family, our MVP friends, of course, and Melissa and a few others.” The Gore’s said the past two and a half years have been an eye-opening experience, especially for the new father. “It’s been awesome,” Zac Gore said, smiling. “I love every second of it.” “He’s pretty good at doing that daddy stuff with one arm, too,” Allie Gore added. The pair said people like to poke fun at their quick turn around from dating to living together to married with a newborn, but the jokes don’t bother them. “Everyone thought we we’re kind of crazy, but it’s like the perfect fit,” Allie Gore said. “It’s like a whole new world for the both of us.” The Military Veteran Project is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury to assist with suicide prevention for PRE & POST 9/11 Veterans.
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Army Sgt. Hillary Bor, 3,000 Meter SteeplechaseArmy PFC Paul Chelimo, Modern PentathloArmy Sgt. Glenn Eller, Double Trap ShotgunArmy Sgt. 1st Class Joe Guzman, Boxing CoachAir Force Cadet David Higgins, Prone RifleArmy 2nd Lt. Sam Kendricks, Pole VaultNaval Academy Graduate Edward King, RowingArmy Spc. Shadrack Kipchirchir, 10 KilometerArmy Spc. Leonard Korir, 10 KilometerArmy Spc. Dan Lowe, Air RifleArmy Sgt. Elizabeth Anne Marks, Paralympic SwimmingArmy Sgt. Michael McPhail, 50 Meter Prone RifleArmy Staff Sgt. John Nunn, Race WalkingArmy Sgt. Josh Richmond, Double Trap ShotgunArmy Sgt. 1st Class Keith Sanderson, Pistol ShootingArmy Sgt. Nathan Schrimsher, Modern PentathlonAir Force 1st Lt. Cale Simmons, Pole VaultFrom all of us here at the Military Veteran Project we wish you good luck and are proud of you and your accomplishments! Dont forget to register to join TEAM MVP by clicking here. An average of 20 veterans a day committed suicide in 2014, a trend that reflects record high rates among young men fresh out of the military and growing numbers of women taking their lives, the first actual count of suicides among former service members shows. The Department of Veterans Affairs previously had only estimated suicides, saying in 2010 there was an average of 22 a day. The 2014 data released Thursday is based on a precise tabulation of the 7,403 deaths. David Shulkin, VA undersecretary for health, noted the slight decline from the 2010 estimate, but added, "it's still far too high." The 2014 count is the first slice of a massive examination of 55 million veteran death records dating back to 1979. Shulkin said that a final report due in several weeks will detail more suicide trends. The VA found the worst suicide pattern among male veterans, ages 18-29. Their suicide rate was 86 per 100,000 people, nearly four times the rate among active-duty service members last year. By contrast, the overall U.S. suicide rate is 13 per 100,000 people, according to theAmerican Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The new figures show the suicide rate among young female veterans, ages 18-29, was 33 per 100,000 — more than double the overall U.S. rate. Shulkin said the suicide rate among all female veterans was more than double that of women who didn't serve in the military. "It is difficult to understand why that is happening. It is one of the things that I think will become a central research question for us," he said. Shulkin said more research is needed to determine whether women who served closer to combat or experienced sexual trauma in the military put them at greater risk of taking their own lives. The Military Veteran Project is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury to assist with suicide prevention for PRE & POST 9/11 Veterans. #MilitarySuicideAwareness #22ADAY GET INVOLVED
Memorabilia: Pictured are some of the memorabilia gifted by Melissa Jarboe to the Clinton County Historical Society in member of her husband Jaime Jarboe. The collection includes his uniform, patches, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, honor pins and more. The collection will go on display when the Historical Society Museum reopens in 2017. Posted: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 6:00 am BY LEEANN DOERFLEIN - ldoerflein@ftimes.com Frankfort veteran Jaime Jarboe passed in 2012 after he was wounded in action in Afghanistan, but his memory lives on. To commemorate his service, his widow, Melissa Jarboe, donated items relating to his military career to the Clinton County Historical Society. Melissa, along with Jaime’s father Andy, stepmother Vikki Jarboe and great-uncle Joe Root, presented items including his uniform, challenge pins, patches, dog tags and more to the Historical Society for future display in the Clinton County Historical Society Museum. The artifacts will join the museum’s already healthy collection of war memorabilia when the museum re-opens in 2017 after renovations are complete at Old Stoney, which houses the museum. CCHS Director Nancy Hart and CCHS Board President Mark Griffith were on hand for a ceremony at the courthouse veterans’ memorial on Monday. Jaime will be memorialized in the museum along with other veterans and important pieces of Clinton County history. Root was glad to see the addition because of his personal ties to Jaime and because it is a way to remind people of recent military sacrifice. “He’s my great-nephew and he’s the only name I’ve added to this memorial since it’s been here,” Root said. “It means a lot to have his stuff displayed here.” Hart and Griffith both noted that having a recent war hero’s items on display will serve as reminders to the public of the important role of the military in our country’s history. “I think that this will make people realize the sacrifices of servicemen and women,” Hart said. “Hopefully this will bring to their attention the sacrifices of not just Jaime Jarboe, but everyone ... dating all the way back to the Revolutionary War.” Before the donation Melissa had Jaime’s military items in a sort of shrine at her home, but she decided to reach out to the Clinton County Historical Society to offer the items to the museum. Though Jaime lived many places during his military career, she felt his hometown was the right place to display the items. “Frankfort is his home of record,” Melissa said. “Out of all the places in the nation, I thought this is where his stuff needed to come home to.”
Jaime served two deployments, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. During his deployment in Afghanistan, he was hit in the neck by sniper fire and was sent home to be treated stateside. He died 11 months after being wounded, at Walter Reid Hospital, with his father and wife by his side. Melissa and Andy said he showed courage and maintained a sense of humor right up until the night before he passed. Even while fighting for his life and suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) she said, he never regretted fighting for his country. “At all costs, he never regretted his service. He loved his country and everybody in it, so much that he was willing to die for it,” Melissa said. “Jaime is a great example of leadership that we all should be as Americans, to selflessly serve one another in a unity effort. He didn’t serve for one group of people, he served for everyone.” Jaime had promised Melissa to keep fighting until after her birthday, which is March 20. He died on March 21, 2012. In return, Melissa kept her promise to fight for soldiers with PTSD. In addition to honoring Jaime with the donation to the museum, she is running a non-profit organization called the Military Veteran Project, which fights for veterans and PTSD research. “Our job is to work with the Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense to find a cure for it (PTSD),” Melissa said. “Because if we are going to send them across the ocean or wherever on foreign soil, we need to be prepared to take care of them back home ... We come in as a third party administrator to fill that gap and save lives.” In addition, each year Melissa is donating 100 copies of her memoir, “Sacrificed,” to the Historical Society to sell for the profit of the museum. Griffith said county residents can join Melissa in donating to the museum. He encourages people to examine their own artifacts because they, too, might have museum-quality items. |
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