Tuesday at 8 AM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Variety Channel tune into “American Heroes Network“

We will be talking with some outstanding organizations that are truly helping our veterans and their families. Folds of Honor, Warriors For Freedom. We will also be discussing PGA of America’s charitable foundation called PGA HOPE. This is a program designed to introduce golf to military veterans, Wounded Warriors and Veterans with Disabilities in an effort to enhance their mental, social, physical and emotional well-being.  In addition we will cover the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act that was signed and made effective in February 2015 by President Obama. Help stop 22 Veteran Suicides a day.

Tony

Guest Bio: Tony Biata, PGA Vice President Patriot Golf Day

A member of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America since 1992, Biata volunteered his time to the Central New York section of the PGA in every official capacity since 1996 as a Board Member, Secretary/Treasurer, Vice President, President and most recently Honorary President. His duties as the Vice President of Patriot Golf Day include acting as a liaison between the PGA of America and the Folds of Honor Foundation to assist the 28,000 PGA/LPGA members in growing public awareness of Patriot Golf Day. His main objective is to inform golfers nationwide that Patriot Golf Day, although initially developed as a Labor Day initiative; it is quickly becoming a year round event where courses can individually design their own model of how best to support the foundation’s mission. Biata is a two-time CNYPGA Golf Professional of the Year (2005 & 2010) and has also been the recipient of seven other special recognition awards. He was named one of Golf Digest’s Top 400 Instructors in the U.S as well as one of GOLF Magazine’s Top Ten Teachers in New York. In 1999, Biata co-founded the CNY Junior Golf Foundation for the greater Syracuse area benefiting inner-city youth, coordinated one of the most successful Clubs-4-Kids programs in upstate New York and served as the Director of Instruction for the 2004 Syracuse Tiger Woods Festival. Originally from upstate New York, Biata relocated to Owasso in August, 2011 with his wife, Laurel and son, Michael.

Brett-Dick

Guest Bio: Bret Dick, Founder, President of Operations

Brett runs the day-to-day activities including fundraising, program management, marketing, budget management and community relationship cultivation.

Brett has served many charitable groups in the effort of raising awareness for the veteran community. He was a Board of Director for the Mental Health Association of Central Oklahoma, which provides free or low cost mental health services to both veterans and their families as well as a member of the Coordinating Council of 211 Oklahoma, which provides information and referral services to those in crises and in every day needs of human services. Brett is currently a Board of Director for the Aaron Alley Memorial Scholarship Fund, which provides students of Woodward High School with scholarships in Aaron’s name.

Although he never served in the military, Brett has always had a passion for supporting the men and women who sacrifice their lives for his freedom.  He feels it is important to convey to the active duty and veteran communities, that there are millions of non serving, patriotic Americans that proudly stand behind them.  Through his passion and business experience, he strives to cultivate events and activities that are not only a fun and healing experiences for our veterans but also a fun and educational experiences for our sponsor, supporters and volunteers.

Scott K

Guest Bio: Scott Kmiec serves as the PGA of America’s first Senior Director responsible for overseeing the PGA’s charitable foundation.  Kmiec oversees the programming, funding and strategic direction of PGA REACH and its three key pillars; YOUTH, MILITARY, and DIVERSITY/INCLUSION.

Kmiec is a PGA of America “lifer” having spent 19 years with the PGA of America’s New Jersey Section prior to transitioning into his current role. His career as a collegiate intern with the New Jersey PGA in January of 1995. He quickly ascended to the role of Executive Director and was responsible for the operations of the Section activities including the NJPGA’s successful Tournament program–Junior Tour–and Employment/Club Relations activities.  During his tenure, the New Jersey Section enjoyed significant growth in membership, sponsorship, and community engagement, the highlight being the creation of the NJPGA’s charitable arm, the NJ Golf Foundation. Under Kmiec’s management, the NJ Golf Foundation became a respected leader in the New Jersey golf community providing outreach programs for introduction to the sport for youth, women, and military veterans. The NJGF’s signature “Golf in Schools” initiative had grown to over 150 schools and 100,000 youth under his leadership and expanded the reach of the sport to locations across the state.  The NJGF also partnered with Plainfield Country Club on a successful educational initiative called “The Path to College program,” which provided underserved families with scholarships, SAT preparation, college visits and counseling for their children to attain higher education.

In 2012, the New Jersey PGA was honored by the PGA of America with the “Herb Graffis” award, which is presented annually to a PGA Section for its efforts in Player Development.  Similarly the efforts put forth by Kmiec and his long-tenured team led the NJPGA to be announced as the most recent recipient of the Metropolitan Golf Association’s Distinguished Service award.