Food City and seven time NASCAR Champion, Richard Petty have once again teamed up to benefit Paralyzed Veterans of America’s Mission: ABLE project.  For more than six decades, Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans) has been on a mission to change lives and build brighter futures for our seriously injured heroes.   

“If there has been one partner that has really stepped up to help Paralyzed Veterans of America’s Mission: ABLE project, it is Food City,” said Petty.  “They helped us raise a lot of money their first three years and our goal is to raise even more this year.”

The Mission: ABLE campaign was designed to enlist Americans – citizens, communities and corporations – to help ensure our paralyzed heroes are provided the physical care needed to live a healthy life; receive the benefits they’ve earned through military service; and obtain job training and opportunities for new and fulfilling careers. 

“Thanks to our loyal customers, we have raised over $350,000 in the last three years to benefit Paralyzed Veterans of America,” said Steven C. Smith, president and chief executive officer.  “We’re proud to have another opportunity to team with Richard Petty and Mission Able in support of such a worthy cause.”

The campaign, which will be featured throughout the company’s retail supermarket chain, begins August 30, 2014 and continues through October 11, 2014.  Customers wishing to make a contribution simply need to select the desired dollar amount - $1, $3, or $5 and it will be conveniently added to their order total.  100% of the donations collected will remain local and benefit Paralyzed Veterans within the region.  

“Our partnership with Food City is what our Mission: ABLE campaign is all about – enlisting all Americans to help our paralyzed heroes fully live the lives they deserve and to receive what they need most: care, benefits and jobs,” said Bill Lawson, National President of Paralyzed Veterans. “Thank you Food City for your outstanding fund-raising efforts in support of Paralyzed Veterans of America’s mission to change lives and build brighter futures for all those brave men and women who have served and sacrificed for freedom.”

Paralyzed Veterans was founded by a band of service members who came home from World War II with a spinal cord injury.  They returned to a grateful nation, but also to a world with few solutions to the challenges they faced.  They created Paralyzed Veterans of America, an organization dedicated to veterans service, medical research and civil rights for people with disabilities.  Today, the work continues to create an America where all veterans and people with disabilities and their families have everything they need to live full and productive lives.  

More than 44,000 American veterans live with paralysis.  Spinal cord injuries can cost up to $3 million per person in health-care expenses, yet veterans’ benefits aren’t always guaranteed.  An estimated $25 billion in veterans’ benefits dollars go unclaimed every year.  More than 85% of veterans with severe disabilities are currently unemployed.  Paralyzed Veterans’ Mission: ABLE programs ensure they are able to receive the benefits they’ve earned, able to access the quality care they need to live a full life, able to get the job training and opportunities for new careers and able to enjoy competition and camaraderie through sports.  For more information on Paralyzed Veterans of America or Mission: ABLE, visit their website at www.mission-able.com.