About 2,000 runners and walkers gathered on campus Saturday to honor and raise money for wounded warriors and families who have lost loved ones serving in the military.<\/p>\n
Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ hosted Operation Giveback\u2019s third-annual signature event, 5K, 10K and 15K road races that raised $80,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur outstanding wounded warriors and military families have given so much so that all of us can enjoy our freedom and quality of life,\u201d said Jos\u00e9 Garcia-Apont\u00e9, the retired Army command sergeant major who founded Operation Giveback with his wife, Maribel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to show our appreciation for the sacrifices they have made and give the wounded warriors and military families the opportunity to get to know each other. Many of them stay in touch and support each other after they leave Orlando.\u201d<\/p>\n
Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ has hosted Operation Giveback\u2019s races the past three years. Below a large U.S. flag held up by fire engines, about 20 wounded warriors led the start of the 5K race.<\/p>\n
Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Provost and Executive Vice President Tony Waldrop spoke during the opening ceremonies by the Veterans Commemorative Site on Memory Mall. The crowd applauded when he gestured toward the Classroom II building under construction and pointed out that it soon will be the new home of the university\u2019s Army and Air Force ROTC programs.<\/p>\n
Also before the races, the Oquendo family from Hillsborough County received Operation Giveback\u2019s first \u201cMake a Dream Come True Award.\u201d<\/p>\n
Decorated Army Sergeant First Class Paul D. Oquendo dreamed of taking his family to New York City for sightseeing and a Broadway show once his daughters were old enough to appreciate the experience.<\/p>\n
Cancer prevented the Hillsborough County resident from fulfilling that dream. He died in September from a rare but aggressive form of cancer known as synovial sarcoma.<\/p>\n
As a way to honor Oquendo for serving his country for 21 years, the Orlando nonprofit organization Operation Giveback will fly his family to New York City. They will stay at the luxurious Plaza Hotel and watch a Broadway show.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis trip will mean so much to me, because I can share Paul’s dream for him,\u201d said Dora Oquendo. \u201cI know he is looking down and is smiling at this dream come true. My girls are going to be so excited. \u00a0We have told them lots of stories\u00a0of New York.\u201d<\/p>\n
Operation Giveback\u2019s mission is to raise awareness and resources for wounded warriors and their families, as well as the families of fallen heroes. The organization intends to fulfill one family\u2019s dream each year.<\/p>\n
Several Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ ROTC students volunteered at the event, and the Student Veterans Association, the Psychology Department\u2019s Trauma Management Therapy program and Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Athletics all set up tents on Memory Mall. The Trauma Management Therapy program treats veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who are diagnosed with PTSD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"About 2,000 runners and walkers gathered on campus Saturday to honor and raise money for wounded warriors and families who have lost loved ones serving in the military. Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ hosted Operation Giveback\u2019s third-annual signature event, 5K, 10K and 15K road races that raised $80,000. \u201cOur outstanding wounded warriors and military families have given so much so that all of us…","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":49130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3168,4088,4742],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-49122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","tag-military","tag-rotc","tag-tony-waldrop"],"yoast_head":"\n