Please Support the Run to Home Base to Benefit Our Brave Veterans and Their Families

One of the great things about distance running is that it provides a lot of opportunities to run in support of some really great causes. In my first year as a runner, I ran more than a dozen 5Ks that supported a broad range of causes, including AIDS awareness and prevention, breast cancer research and literacy promotion.

In 2011, I am not only expanding the geographical locations where I'll run, I'm also increasing the distances. One of the races I am most excited about is the Run to Home Base 9K sponsored by New Balance.

The Run to Home Base program is an initiative supported by philanthropy from the Red Sox Foundation and the Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program, serving New England by identifying, motivating, and clinically treating service members, veterans and their families who are affected by the invisible wounds of war. The Home Base Program serves the nation as a successful model for private-public collaborations; a source of new communication and education; and a leader in finding and implementing new treatments or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The Home Base Program works in cooperation with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to address some of the unmet health and rehabilitation needs of veterans and the unmet health needs of their families.

In New England, an estimated 50,000 combat veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are affected by TBI and/or combat stress. These invisible wounds of war are extremely complex, highly individualized and extraordinarily difficult for all those affected. Families of veterans suffering from combat stress and/or traumatic brain injury often need support and guidance as they seek ways to better understand and support their loved veteran.

Many veterans struggle with the stigma associated with these injuries and the so called “invisible wounds” caused by battlefield experiences. While anxiety and distress may not be as obvious as the physical wounds of war, the scars are just as painful and deep. Such injuries require attention and treatment by a team of providers who are familiar with and experienced in the complexities of combat stress and traumatic brain injury.

Through a range of activities and events, the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program informs and educates the community about combat stress and/or traumatic brain injury, while seeking to help mitigate the stigma and encourage veterans and their families to get the support and care they deserve.

The Home Base Program also supports research of the complexities of combat stress disorders and/or traumatic brain injury with the goal of identifying better treatments. Since the number of professionals specifically trained to diagnose and treat these injuries is inadequate to handle the growing demand, the Home Base Program also offers opportunities for health care professionals from across New England and beyond to increase their understanding of how to help veterans. Bringing together related efforts in clinical care, family support, education and research under a synergistic and cohesive program will advance the care and treatment of our veterans.

(Thanks to the Run to Home Base Program for the information above.)


How can you help? Please follow this link to my fundraising page and sponsor me by making a contribution to the Run to Home Base Program: http://www.runtohomebase.org/runtohomebase/JoanMeyer. I have committed to raise at least $1,000 for the Run to Home Base Program. YOU can help me go the distance with your contribution. I am thankful for every donation made by my sponsors, and donations of any amount are needed.


Just as I did for the Komen Race for the Cure, I will proudly wear a sign on my back throughout the Run to Home Base featuring the names of every single one of my donors (regardless of donation amount), as well as the names of any veterans you wish to honor or memorialize with your donation.


I am particularly honored to be running this race in honor of Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic runner (1936), a survivor of Japanese POW camps during World War II and the subject of Laura Hillenbrand's fascinating bestseller, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. Louie and his story are absolutely inspirational, and the book is compelling and practically impossible to put down.


Please consider supporting the Run to Home Base. I'm including a long-term link in the upper right area of my blog to provide easy access for anyone who wishes to make a contribution. Please share this information with your friends and families. For your support and sponsorship, please accept my sincere thanks.