SoldierStrong Receives Standing Ovation at BCA Breakfast #BCAProud @SoldierStrong

Sergeant Dan Rose and the SoldierStrong team attended the BCA Hospitality Breakfast last Friday. Sergeant Rose demonstrated to hundreds of guests the remarkable SoldierSuit, a bionic device that helps veterans to “Take Their Next Steps Forward”. Philadelphia Inquirer staff joined us at Breakfast Friday and published in today’s paper an article highlighting the amazing feat. Please CLICK HERE to read the full online version. We’re #BCAProud to be able to give back to our communities and our U.S. Servicemen and Women. Thank you SoldierStrong!

Thank you so much to BCA and its members for honoring SoldierStrong as their charity spotlight organization!


Denver VA to test whether walking machine can help brain-injured vets

Five years ago, a bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan paralyzed Army Sgt. Dan Rose from the chest down. Doctors said he would never walk again.

On Wednesday, at the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Denver, he proved them wrong. With crutches and a bionic walking machine, the brown-bearded young man rose from his wheelchair, strutted slowly across the auditorium with a metallic swoosh, pirouetted and strutted back.

“It was crazy,” he said of standing and walking again. “Seeing people in the eye instead of the belly button. It was awesome.”

Now, the VA office plans to study whether the psychological boost Rose got from standing upright can help veterans in Colorado suffering from traumatic brain injuries.

Thanks to SoldierStrong, a nonprofit dedicated to providing advanced medical technologies to veterans, the Denver VA got the free exoskeleton suit to study whether it can help brains as well as bodies. The computer-driven walking machine normally costs $150,000 to $188,000.

The exoskeleton, formally the Ekso GT device, will be tried on about 30 veterans in wheelchairs at first, and the VA hopes to have data by summer on its potential psychologic benefits.

“I see the psychological and physical as being connected,” said Lisa Brenner, a VA research psychologist and mental illness clinic director.

The program will evaluate “what it’s like for people to stand, talk to people eye to eye, participate in life events,” she said. “The world’s set up for people who are standing.”

Rose remembers one drawback about standing again for the first time in his home. He could see the top of his refrigerator covered in dust.

SoldierStrong Receives On-Field Recognition and Honored at Select NFL Salute to Service Games

2015_1108_Rams_0280Nonprofit to Showcase How It Supports Veterans by Providing Cutting-Edge Medical Devices That Enable Them to Walk and Will Kick-Off a Text-to-Give Campaign.

STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 5, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SoldierStrong (previously known
as SoldierSocks), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing advanced medical technologies to veterans, announced today that it will receive on-field recognition and be honored at five of the upcoming National Football League’s (NFL’s) Salute to Service Military Appreciation games in November. During each game, fans will have the opportunity to donate to SoldierStrong by sending a text to 80077 with the keyword “STRONG” to make a $10 donation, or keyword “STRONGER” to make a $25 donation.

SoldierStrong will highlight its work and a veteran’s personal story at the following games:

Sunday, November 8th
1:00 p.m. ET – St. Louis Rams at Minnesota Vikings
TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
4:05 p.m. ET – Atlanta Falcons at San Francisco 49ers
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
8:30 p.m. ET – Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX

Sunday, November 15th
1:00 p.m. ET– Miami Dolphins at Philadelphia Eagles Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA

Sunday, November 22nd
1:00 p.m. ET– Dallas Cowboys at Miami Dolphins Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL

image2“The NFL’s commitment to Salute to Service is commendable and we’re very proud to be a part of it,” said Chris Meek, Founder and CEO of SoldierStrong. “We’re excited to kick off the textto-give campaign and to provide an opportunity for fans to help veterans take their next steps forward.” As part of the Salute to Service campaign, each of the NFL’s 32 teams will pay tribute to the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. The goal of this program is to strengthen the relationship between NFL teams and the military community by honoring local military units from each branch of service on game day. Teams will wear decals on their helmets with the insignia of the U.S. Armed Forces (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy), and will highlight the relationship between clubs and local military units in broadcast and online media throughout the campaign. This season, for every point scored during the NFL’s designated Salute to Service games, the league will donate $1,000 to its three core, military non-profit partners.

All NFL games this season will be broadcast on television on various stations, and online at NFL Redzone, http://www.nfl.com/redzone. For a full list of Salute to Service games this season, please visit: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000088711/article/nfls-32-designatedsalute-to-service-games.

SoldierStrong annual Gala at the New York Yacht Club

SoldierStrong held its Annual Awards Ceremony on Thursday, November 5th at the New York Yacht Club in New York City.   The organization honored its generous and notable supporters at the third annual event.  SoldierStrong’s medical partners, including Myomo, DEKA, BionX, and Ekso Bionics, were all in attendance to demonstrate the medical devices that they provide to injured veterans through SoldierStrong’s efforts.  SoldierStrong awarded WWE the Corporate Leadership Award, and WWE Diva Eva Marie was on hand to accept the award on their behalf.  Eva Marie attended the event with her parents, and honored her father, Lance Corporal Fredric Barry Nelson, who served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam.

SoldierStrong also awarded Commitment to Service Awards to Elvis Duran, host of the Elvis Duran & the Morning Show, and to Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, in recognition of their continuing efforts to help injured veterans across the country.

SoldierStrong Honored at Cubs/Brewers Game at Wrigley Field

CHICAGO, Sept. 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SoldierStrong, one of the fastest growing veterans’ organizations in the nation, will be honored by the Chicago Cubs for its work to provide advanced rehabilitation technology to help post-9/11 injured veterans take their next steps forward back on America soil. The organization, together with a local injured veteran, will be recognized at the Cubs/Brewers game on Tuesday, September 22 at Wrigley Field. During the game, Chris Meek, co-founder and CEO of SoldierStrong, will join Matt Ross, an injured war veteran who has gone through rehabilitation using an Ekso GTTM robotic exoskeleton, which has ultimately helped him relearn to walk on his own again.

Together, they will walk onto the field for a special tribute and veteran’s salute.”We are honored to be recognized by such a prestigious organization as the Chicago Cubs to help spread the word about SoldierStrong and the work we do for America’s injured veterans,” said Chris Meek. “This remarkable platform will enable us to deliver our message to tens of thousands of people. We’re hoping they’ll be inspired to join us in our mission to give access to life changing advanced rehabilitation to thousands of additional injured veterans.” he said.

SoldierStrong is committed to helping post-9/11 injured veterans take their next steps forward by making available cutting-edge medical device technology in advanced rehabilitation. Already, SoldierStrong has given over 20,000 severely injured and paralyzed veterans access to life changing advanced medical devices. SoldierStrong also helps veterans by providing scholarship opportunities at some of America’s finest universities, colleges and trade schools. SoldierStrong is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, founded in 2009.

SoldierStrong honored at Yankees/Red Sox game at Fenway park

The Stamford-based nonprofit SoldierStrong will be recognized Monday by the Boston Red Sox, prior to a game at Fenway Park against the New York Yankees.

Initially founded to provide soldiers with socks and other basic needs, SoldierStrong now provides veterans with assistive medical devices as well, as they recover from combat wounds, also funding educational scholarships.

The company estimates it has helped some 20,000 veterans since its launch in 2009, in some cases with expensive prosthetic technology from Massachusetts companies Myomo of Cambridge and iWalk of Bedford. At the game, CEO Chris Meek will be joined by David Bronson, who uses BiOM’s iWalk prosthetic ankle after being injured in Iraq.