Camp My Way is hosting the First Responder Family Fundraiser (FRFF) event on Saturday, June 1, 2019 at Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C., which will also bring attention to the first International Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) / Mental Health Awareness event.
The event will raise funds for sending two first responders who struggle with PTSD, and their families, to participate in a seven-day Camp My Way Wilderness Therapy program.
“We’re going to flip our 400 pound tractor tire around Stanley Park to raise awareness to PTSD and mental health. Our goal is to de-stigmatize the condition—how we plan on doing that is we’re doing this simultaneously with four other countries around the world,” said Terrance Kosikar, founder and executive director of Camp My Way.
Members from Salt Spring Island Fire, Sunshine Valley Fire, Clearwater Fire Department and ‘the people’ of the Canadian / Georgian community will be in attendance thanks to the Ambassador of Georgia H.E. Konstantin Kavtaradze who welcomed Kosikar this weekend to the occasion of the Georgian National Day and the 100th Anniversary of the Constituent Assembly of Georgia on May 4, 2019.
“We also have the German Air Force, German Fire and Rescue Airport Köln/Bonn, a police veterans organization in Australia, New York City Fire, New York City Police, North Carolina Fire and Rescue/Peer Support group, Anaheim Fire Department who will also be helping to raise funds for Camp My Way and awareness to PTSD and mental health by flipping their tires.”
Those interested in supporting the cause can pledge $5 per tire flip to help organizers reach their goal of $10,000 by contacting [email protected] or donate to https://www.gofundme.com/first-responder-family-fundraiser
Kosikar added the day is also dedicated to the memory of Nodar Kumaritashvili, Olympic luge athlete who tragically lost his life during a practice run at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Kosikar was the first responder to the accident and struggled with PTSD for many years after the games until getting his life back naturally in the backcountry mountains where he founded Camp My Way in 2015.
“We really want to make sure the world remembers the young athlete who was killed during the games and we want to support all first responders around the world who have been affected by PTSD,” he said.
The day begins at 11 am at the Olympic Cauldron with a drumming and smudge before a 10-minute meditation, breathing exercise and group warm up with all the sponsored first responders and their families who will help flip the tractor tire around the seawall to begin the fundraising. For more information on the First Responder Family Fundraiser and International PTSD Awareness event visit www.campmyway.com
Independent Sports News first wrote about him at www.independentsportsnews.com/
