Valspar Championship and Copperhead Charities Donate $125,000 to The Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness Program at Tampa General Hospital

The donation will help Tampa General Hospital connect Tampa Bay area veterans with resources to support healthy habits and ways to build resiliency against post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety.

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Tampa General Hospital

Nov 11, 2021, 11:59 ET

TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Valspar Championship and Copperhead Charities are donating $125,000 to Tampa General Hospital's (TGH) Foundation for the new Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness program offered through the TGH Fitness Center. This generous donation will help support Tampa Bay area military veterans in making positive changes in their lives by improving their health and well-being.

Valspar Championship and Copperhead Charities logo lockup

Home Base Logo

U.S. Army Veteran Michell Kenney gets tips on stretching from Tampa General Hospital Fitness Center Specialist Fernando Hurtado as part of the free Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness program. The Valspar Championship and Copperhead Charities are donating $125,000 to Tampa General Hospital's Foundation for the new Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness program to support Tampa Bay, FL area military veterans in making positive changes in their lives by improving their health and well-being.

Announced in October, Tampa General Hospital and Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital program, formed a partnership to create a free health and fitness program specifically for veterans. The Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness program is based at the TGH Fitness Center, located on the hospital's main campus and led by trained fitness specialists and dietitians. This program is designed to improve health and well-being through supervised physical exercise, education about healthy eating and living a healthy lifestyle, along with ways to incorporate stress management that emphasize the health benefits of physical activity.

"We are deeply appreciative of the Valspar Championship and Copperhead Charities for their generosity in supporting this program which will make a real difference in the lives of veterans. Breaking down barriers to healthy lifestyles is key to our vision of being the safest and most innovative health system in America. We are humbled and believe it is a privilege to help veterans enhance their lives by providing resources to improve their health and wellness," said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General.

The donation will support program outreach. This will include the addition of a veteran program outreach coordinator and a veteran wellness coordinator to help connect and serve our local heroes through the Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness program at Tampa General. "These newly funded staff positions will provide the ability to recruit veterans for the program and support them in developing healthy habits," said Kim Christine, administrator, community health and wellness, Tampa General.

Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness program participants receive a 90-day complimentary membership to the TGH Fitness Center, which includes up to three complimentary one-hour training sessions per week. Participants will consult with a TGH registered dietitian and take part in a hands-on, step-by-step cooking class. They will also receive unlimited access to virtual and live group fitness classes and can use the TGH Fitness Center app for tracking health metrics, scheduling of sessions and more.

The 2021 Valspar Championship, Tampa Bay's PGA TOUR event, generated charitable contributions and initiatives that come through the sponsoring organization, Copperhead Charities. Funds originate through ticket sales and other tournament proceeds. More than 50 area charities will benefit from the 2021 tournament proceeds.

"Our goal at Copperhead Charities is to use tournament net proceeds to positively impact the lives of those in our community. Our tournament has a long-standing relationship with Tampa General and a deep history in supporting the men and women who have served our country in the military. It was a natural fit for us to help spearhead funding to launch veteran outreach services for the Home Base Warrior Fitness program at Tampa General. We are honored to support these efforts," commented Valspar Championship/Copperhead Charities General Chair Ronde Barber.

The program creates an open enrollment that welcomes all veterans regardless of ability or discharge status. Veterans are required to register in order to participate. "The generous support from the Valspar Championship and Copperhead Charities will be instrumental in establishing the third Home Base Warrior Fitness program in the country," said Armando Hernandez, program director, Home Base SWFL and U.S. Marine veteran. "We have seen significant changes in the physical and mental wellness of our participants in our locations in Boston and Southwest Florida, including improved physical health and serving as a portal to more complex care of injuries like post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury."

The first group of the Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness program at Tampa General started last month and participants are receiving:

Fitness evaluations and a personally tailored exercise program
Nutrition and meal planning counseling
Health education
Warrior yoga and resiliency training
90 days of group training sessions

The Valspar Championship and Copperhead Charities focus on two primary goals – bringing a world-class professional sporting event to the Tampa Bay area and a charitable mission to use tournament proceeds to help meet community needs.

"Before moving to Tampa Bay to work on the Valspar Championship, I was involved in the Home Base program in Boston. I saw firsthand the care, compassion and results of the program in helping warriors and families impacted by the burden of the 'Invisible Wounds of War.' It is so important to remain a grateful nation and we are confident that this tournament support will help those in need," added Valspar Championship Tournament Director Tracy West.

The TGH Fitness Center is located at 1 Davis Blvd., Tampa. To learn about the Home Base program at Tampa General, visit Home Base Warrior Health and Fitness Program at Tampa General. For more information on future groups, contact Jaime Fernandez at 305-972-9951 or [email protected], or visit Homebase.org.

ABOUT HOME BASE
Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program, is dedicated to healing the invisible wounds for veterans, service members and their families through world-class clinical care, wellness, education and research. As a National Center of Excellence headquartered in Boston's Charlestown Navy Yard, Home Base operates the largest private-sector clinic in the nation devoted to healing invisible wounds such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, anxiety, depression, co-occurring substance use disorder, military sexual trauma and family relationship challenges. For more information about Home Base, visit https://homebase.org/.

ABOUT THE VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP
The Valspar Championship is Tampa Bay's PGA TOUR event and a part of the annual FedExCup competition. The 2022 Valspar Championship will be held on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida from March 14-20. Defending champion is Sam Burns. The tournament is nationally televised on NBC Sports and Golf Channel and is aired in over 220 countries; and is owned and operated by Copperhead Charities, Inc. The title sponsor for the tournament is Valspar Paint. For more information, visit www.valsparchampionship.com and follow @valsparchamp on Twitter.

ABOUT COPPERHEAD CHARITIES, INC.
Copperhead Charities history of supporting charities through professional golf dates back to 1977, with charitable funds generated exceeding $47 million. The 2022 Valspar Championship will be the 21^st full-field PGA TOUR event sponsored by the Copperheads (General Chair Ronde Barber, Vice General Chair John Astrab). Over 200 Tampa Bay area civic and business leaders are members of The Copperheads/CopperMugs. The tournament is managed by Pro Links Sports with Executive Director Hollis Cavner and Tournament Director Tracy West.

ABOUT VALSPAR AND SHERWIN-WILLIAMS
Since being acquired on June 1, 2017, Valspar is a brand of The Sherwin-Williams Company, a global leader in the manufacture, development, distribution and sale of paints, coatings and related products. The company manufactures products under well-known brands such as Sherwin-Williams®, Valspar®, HGTV HOME® by Sherwin-Williams, Dutch Boy®, Krylon®, Minwax®, Thompson's®, Water Seal®, Cabot® and many more. With global headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, Sherwin-Williams® branded products are sold exclusively through a chain of more than 4,100 company-operated stores and facilities, while the company's other brands are sold through leading mass merchandisers, home centers, independent paint dealers, hardware stores, automotive retailers and industrial distributors. Sherwin-Williams shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: SHW). For more information, visit www.sherwin.com.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, a 1,041-bed non-profit academic medical center, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2021-22 Best Hospitals, and one of the top 4 hospitals in Florida, with five specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States. The academic medical center's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious 2021 Forbes magazine rankings – America's Best Employers by State, third out of 100 Florida companies and first among health care and social organizations and 13^th nationally in America's Best Employers for Women. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal 2020 provided a net community benefit worth more than $182.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center and its 32-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed Level IV neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Brandon Healthplex, TGH Virtual Health and 19 outpatient Radiology Centers. Tampa Bay residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics, and they can even receive home visits in select areas through TGH Urgent Care at Home, powered by Fast Track. As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that uses artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.