DiveNewsWire
Contributor
On Friday, February 28, 2014, the Dive Pirates Foundation hosted its 10th Annual Ball and Fundraiser, the foundations largest source of revenue, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston, Texas; a gathering of supporters and recipients who not only participated in a silent and live auction, but heard firsthand the impact of the foundation on a recipients life and plans for the future.
Dive Pirates Founder and President, Barbara Thompson, opened the program with an overview of the organizations tremendous growth. This is a milestone year for Dive Pirates as we celebrate 10 years of supporting, training, equipping, and providing dive travel to people with disabilities through Classified Scuba Diving, Thompson proclaimed as the audience roared into applause. Thompson also recognized the incredible voluntary work of the Board of Directors and Dive Pirates members over the last decade as the backbone of our success without which we would not be here today.
Thompson went on to triumphantly announce new Classified Scuba Diving standards and training curriculum developed in partnership with Scuba Schools International (www.divessi.com), a training philosophy that addresses the specific needs of an individual and trains to his or her specific capabilities, said Thompson, so that every classified diver can safely dive within his ability with the appropriate support team.
The Key Note Speaker, Retired US Army Captain Marlene Krpata, gave a riveting and compelling presentation about her journey as a war veteran and leg amputee.
Krpata enlisted in the U.S. Army after college in 1995 and subsequently completed Officer Candidate School. In 2005 Krpata deployed to Kosovo, then to Iraq the following year with arguably one of the most nerve-wracking jobs in the U.S. Military; to locate Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) for disablement, disassembly, and disposal. Krpata described how she led her team to execute on its mission, only to return each day emotionally deflated to file a report identical to the prior day: I failed to execute on my mission to locate IEDs today.
Captain Krpatas injury did not result from an IED, but rather from a mortar attack at the base camp. Krpata articulated the events that ultimately led to amputating her leg from the knee down four years later in 2011. A captivated and attentive audience listened intently to Krpata as she bravely shared the struggles she endured with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and severe depression, and applauded her determination to find peace and regain clarity in life, which started when she first received her service dog, Gracie, and subsequently when she re-connected with swimming in the ocean.
Krpata took her love for the ocean and swimming to a new level by earning a Classified SCUBA Diver certification as a Dive Pirates Foundation recipient and traveling to Cayman Brac in June 2013 for a week of scuba diving. Its both a physical and a mental thing, explained Krpata. Physically, nothing hurts when Im underwater. I feel natural. When Im diving Im just like everybody else. And mentally, because its so peaceful down there, it helps me to calm down and relaxes me.
As Krpata ended her presentation, she gave the audience an impactful and poetic closing thought: "being under the water is the one place that my mind stops spinning and I just can relax and enjoy the view."
The event drew about 250 attendees who bid on donated silent auction items, such as art work, spa packages, wine baskets, and diving gear while enjoying cocktails and appetizers. A three-course meal followed with a live auction where volunteer auctioneers dressed in pirate garb kept the ballroom hopping as they auctioned off donated vacation rental homes, sports tickets, professional framed photographs, diving packages, and much more; as well as a successful split the pot raffle. In all, the foundation raised approximately $72,000 after expenses, a 9% year-over-year increase.
Of significant importance during this 10 year milestone was the announcement that the Dive Pirates Foundation applied for, and achieved Gold Level Participation status on the GuideStar® Exchange (www.guidestar.org). Dive Pirates Treasurer, Michael A. Nasr, announced this substantial achievement and explained that GuideStar® is a public charity itself that collects, organizes, and presents information about non-profit organizations in a consistent format that provides transparency for donors to make reliable philanthropic decisions and encourage charitable giving, Nasr explained. And of the more than 37,000 non-profits listed on the exchange, only about 2,700 (~7%) of those organizations have Gold Level status and the Dive Pirates Foundation is one of them; a testament to our credibility and dedication to our mission and vision, said Nasr.
Nasr concluded that being a Gold Level Participant with GuideStar®is a tremendous opportunity to showcase our unwavering commitment to data transparency and to communicate with our donors, institutional funders, partner sites, and the general public with up-to-date, reliable data about Dive Pirates.
GuideStar® awards Bronze, Silver, or Gold Participation levels based on a non-profit organizations published report, presenting data about the organizations activities, fundraising, spend, success metrics, and much more including data submitted to the IRS. With 8 million annual visitors, GuideStar® provides unprecedented visibility for non-profits.
Dive Pirates Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing scuba diving to persons with divers that will dive and travel in the mainstream world of scuba diving through education and overcoming obstacles. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.divepirates.org.
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Dive Pirates Founder and President, Barbara Thompson, opened the program with an overview of the organizations tremendous growth. This is a milestone year for Dive Pirates as we celebrate 10 years of supporting, training, equipping, and providing dive travel to people with disabilities through Classified Scuba Diving, Thompson proclaimed as the audience roared into applause. Thompson also recognized the incredible voluntary work of the Board of Directors and Dive Pirates members over the last decade as the backbone of our success without which we would not be here today.
Thompson went on to triumphantly announce new Classified Scuba Diving standards and training curriculum developed in partnership with Scuba Schools International (www.divessi.com), a training philosophy that addresses the specific needs of an individual and trains to his or her specific capabilities, said Thompson, so that every classified diver can safely dive within his ability with the appropriate support team.
The Key Note Speaker, Retired US Army Captain Marlene Krpata, gave a riveting and compelling presentation about her journey as a war veteran and leg amputee.
Krpata enlisted in the U.S. Army after college in 1995 and subsequently completed Officer Candidate School. In 2005 Krpata deployed to Kosovo, then to Iraq the following year with arguably one of the most nerve-wracking jobs in the U.S. Military; to locate Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) for disablement, disassembly, and disposal. Krpata described how she led her team to execute on its mission, only to return each day emotionally deflated to file a report identical to the prior day: I failed to execute on my mission to locate IEDs today.
Captain Krpatas injury did not result from an IED, but rather from a mortar attack at the base camp. Krpata articulated the events that ultimately led to amputating her leg from the knee down four years later in 2011. A captivated and attentive audience listened intently to Krpata as she bravely shared the struggles she endured with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and severe depression, and applauded her determination to find peace and regain clarity in life, which started when she first received her service dog, Gracie, and subsequently when she re-connected with swimming in the ocean.
Krpata took her love for the ocean and swimming to a new level by earning a Classified SCUBA Diver certification as a Dive Pirates Foundation recipient and traveling to Cayman Brac in June 2013 for a week of scuba diving. Its both a physical and a mental thing, explained Krpata. Physically, nothing hurts when Im underwater. I feel natural. When Im diving Im just like everybody else. And mentally, because its so peaceful down there, it helps me to calm down and relaxes me.
As Krpata ended her presentation, she gave the audience an impactful and poetic closing thought: "being under the water is the one place that my mind stops spinning and I just can relax and enjoy the view."
The event drew about 250 attendees who bid on donated silent auction items, such as art work, spa packages, wine baskets, and diving gear while enjoying cocktails and appetizers. A three-course meal followed with a live auction where volunteer auctioneers dressed in pirate garb kept the ballroom hopping as they auctioned off donated vacation rental homes, sports tickets, professional framed photographs, diving packages, and much more; as well as a successful split the pot raffle. In all, the foundation raised approximately $72,000 after expenses, a 9% year-over-year increase.
Of significant importance during this 10 year milestone was the announcement that the Dive Pirates Foundation applied for, and achieved Gold Level Participation status on the GuideStar® Exchange (www.guidestar.org). Dive Pirates Treasurer, Michael A. Nasr, announced this substantial achievement and explained that GuideStar® is a public charity itself that collects, organizes, and presents information about non-profit organizations in a consistent format that provides transparency for donors to make reliable philanthropic decisions and encourage charitable giving, Nasr explained. And of the more than 37,000 non-profits listed on the exchange, only about 2,700 (~7%) of those organizations have Gold Level status and the Dive Pirates Foundation is one of them; a testament to our credibility and dedication to our mission and vision, said Nasr.
Nasr concluded that being a Gold Level Participant with GuideStar®is a tremendous opportunity to showcase our unwavering commitment to data transparency and to communicate with our donors, institutional funders, partner sites, and the general public with up-to-date, reliable data about Dive Pirates.
GuideStar® awards Bronze, Silver, or Gold Participation levels based on a non-profit organizations published report, presenting data about the organizations activities, fundraising, spend, success metrics, and much more including data submitted to the IRS. With 8 million annual visitors, GuideStar® provides unprecedented visibility for non-profits.
Dive Pirates Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing scuba diving to persons with divers that will dive and travel in the mainstream world of scuba diving through education and overcoming obstacles. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.divepirates.org.
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