Paralyzed Veterans Encourages All to Pay It Forward for Veterans

CEOs Urged to Hire More Vets

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans) is encouraging all Americans to "Pay It Forward" this Veterans Day for veterans and their families across our nation. In particular, employers are being urged to hire more veterans with disabilities.

"Pay it forward for all veterans and their families in your community. Do something that is really going to make a difference. Do something that is really going to change their lives and help them build a brighter future," said Bill Lawson, national president of Paralyzed Veterans. "At the moment, for the many veterans who are unemployed, a good job and a lasting career is that 'something' that is really going to make all the difference."

Unemployment is the biggest issue facing our nation right now, with the toughest economy in a generation — and it's disproportionately higher for veterans with disabilities.

Paralyzed Veterans is meeting the challenge of unemployment head on through Operation PAVE (Paving Access for Veterans Employment). Created in 2007, the program is helping America's veterans get back to work with good careers and great employers. (http://www.operationpave.org/)

Operation PAVE is a key part of the bigger Paralyzed Veterans' Mission: ABLE campaign (http://www.missionable.org/). Mission: ABLE is a full-on effort by Paralyzed Veterans to enlist every citizen, community and company to ensure that veterans receive what they need most: care, benefits and jobs.

Lawson, a U.S Army veteran, is suggesting three things to do this Veterans Day:

"First, please think about the unique challenges paralyzed veterans face every day. Imagine a world with barriers, a world as experienced from a wheelchair.

Second, reach out to veterans and their families. Thank them for their service. This means more than you might imagine.

And, third, pay it forward for veterans — and if you are an employer, this means creating more jobs and hiring more veterans. Now that would be a really powerful way to say thanks to all those who have worn the uniform."

Paralyzed Veterans of America is also honoring veterans through a number of online options. Twitter users can honor a veteran, advocate or caregiver by posting a tribute using the hashtag #iSalute. To learn more, visit www.pva.org/isalute. A special Wall of Heroes web page is also available for people to post longer tributes and/or photos to honor the special veterans in their lives this Veterans Day. For more information, please visit www.pva.org/veteransday2011.

About Paralyzed Veterans of America:

Sixty-five years ago, Paralyzed Veterans of America was founded by a band of spinal cord injured service members who returned home from World War II to a grateful nation, but also to a world with few solutions to the challenges they faced. These veterans from the "Greatest Generation" made a decision not just to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. They created an organization dedicated to veterans service, medical research and civil rights for people with disabilities. And for more than six decades, Paralyzed Veterans of America and its 34 chapters have been working to create an America where all veterans and people with disabilities, and their families, have everything they need to thrive. (www.pva.org)

SOURCE Paralyzed Veterans of America