The 3rd Annual Veterans Honor Invitational

Click the link HERE to Register!

Ritz Carlton Naples Beach Resort | 280 Vanderbilt Beach Rd, Naples, FL 34108

TIburón Golf Club | 2620 Tiburón Dr, Naples, FL 34109

Thank you to our Sponsors:

HOWARD FAMILY TRUST LAKEFIELD FAMILY FOUNDATION

⭐ The Stars & Stripes Dinner

The Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort ~ 280 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Naples FL 34108

Friday | November 10th, 2023

New Venue! Our sit down dinner will be held at the newly renovated Ritz Carlton Beach Resort

Live Entertainment by The Ben Allen Band
Live and Silent Auctions
Registration Begins at 4:30 pm
Dinner Reception Begins at 6:00 pm

* $500 per person *

⭐ Veterans Honor Golf Outing

Tiburón Golf Club ~ 2620 Tiburón Drive, Naples, FL 34109

Saturday | November 11th, 2023

Registration begins at 11:00 am
Shotgun Start at 1:00 pm
Foursome: $6,000
Individual: $1,500

⭐ Sign up for BOTH Dinner and Golf

* $1,750 per person *

Sponsorship Opportunity Details

Liberty Sponsor ~ $15,000

Premier Display and Signage at Event (Entertainment Sponsor)
Foursome at Veterans Honor Golf Outing
2 Rooms at The Ritz Carlton Beach Resort (1 Night)
8 Tickets to Stars and Stripes Dinner
Reserved Seating with Guest Veteran
Opportunity to provide Branded Items for Swag Bags
Logo on Patriot Fund website & Auction Website
Logo on Invitation & Hole Sign

Veteran Sponsor ~ $10,000

Premier Display and Signage at Event (Stars & Stripes Dinner Sponsor)
Foursome at Veterans Honor Golf Outing
4 Tickets to Stars and Stripes Dinner
Reserved Seating with Guest Veteran
Opportunity to provide Branded Items for Swag Bags
Logo on Patriot Fund website & Auction Website
Logo on Invitation & Hole Sign

Bravery Sponsor ~ $7,500

Premier Display and Signage at Event (Happy Hour Sponsor)
2 Golfers at Veterans Honor Golf Outing
4 Tickets to Stars and Stripes Dinner
Reserved Seating with Guest Veteran
Opportunity to provide Branded Items for Swag Bags
Logo on Patriot Fund website & Auction Website
Logo on Invitation & Hole Sign

Freedom Sponsor ~ $5,000

Premier Display and Signage at Event (Awards Dinner Sponsor)
8 Tickets to Stars and Stripes Dinner
Reserved Seating with Guest Veteran
Opportunity to provide Branded Items for Swag Bags
Logo on Patriot Fund website & Auction Website
Logo on Invitation & Hole Sign

Hole Sign Sponsor ~ $500

Logo at Specific Hole with Signage

Golf Foursome ~ $6,000

Individual Golf ~ $1,500

Individual Seats to Dinner ~ $500

Our Honorary Guest Speaker

U.S. Air Force Command Chief Master Sergeant (Ret) Matt Caruso

Matt completed 32+ years of active service in 2018 with 14 assignments culminated with his role as the Senior Enlisted Leader for US Transportation Command overseeing the management and care of over 140,000 personnel and Command Chief Master Sergeant, Air Force Special Operations Command in which he set the example for 24,000 Air Commandos. Matt serves as an Advisor to the Global Special Operations Foundation and Director, Air Commando Association.

Having spent his formative years as a Special Operations Enlisted Aviator, Matt, has led service members from all services and successfully held roles at every level of Command as a Combat Fight Engineer, Enlisted Aircrew member, and Command Senior Enlisted Leader. Matt deployed for one year as the Senior Enlisted Leader, Joint Special Operations Air Component for Afghanistan and Iraq in 2012. He and his team were responsible for supporting and executing over 450 combat missions. With over 9 Combat Deployments Matt has seen and experienced the pressure of war both visible and unseen effects to the Force. Personally, losing over 40 teammates throughout his career, he is no stranger to the daily struggle our Veterans and Service Members face on a daily basis and the pressure on their Families.

Matt currently is the Vice President of business development for Berry Aviation. In this capacity he leads all growth and capture efforts with DoD and commercial industry. Matt believes in God, our Nation, and defending the Freedom so many have fought and died for. Matt is a motivational and inspiring guest speaker to all audiences and provides transition counseling to separating Senior Enlisted members and Senior Officers entering the corporate and private sectors.

Our Patriot of the Year Recipient

Mitchell L. Cordova, PhD

We are excited to introduce Mitch Cordova, Ph.D., who has been selected as our first Southwest Florida Patriot of the Year! Dr. Cordova’s unwavering support for Home Base Florida and his commitment to the well-being of Veterans and their Families make him an exemplary candidate for this honor. Congratulations!

Dr. Mitch Cordova currently serves as the Founding Vice President for Student Success & Enrollment Management & Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU).He has held this position since March 2018 after serving nearly 7 years as Professor and Dean of the Marieb College of Health & Human Services. In his capacity as Vice President for Student Success & Enrollment Management, Dr. Cordova leads a division that comprises 4 units containing 14 departments – including Military and veterans Success – encompassing 350 full-time staff and over 450 part-time staff. The Division of Student Success & Enrollment Management focuses on optimizing and maximizing: admitting best-fit students to FGCU, enhancing student engagement and campus life, improving student retention and persistence and 4-yr graduation rates, as well as decreasing the cost of attendance while enhancing the career readiness of students following graduation.

In addition to his university work, Dr. Cordova remains active currently serving Southwest Florida on many community boards including: Board of Directors – Naples Botanical Garden; Board of Directors – Moorings Park, Inc; American Heart Association – Heart Ball Executive Leadership Team. Previously, Dr. Cordova has served as President, Board of Trustees – Dubin Alzheimer’s Resource Center; Chairman of the American Heart Association – SWFL Market Board; and unelected member of the Lee Memorial Health System Board of Directors.

At FGCU, Dr. Cordova has the honor of overseeing the Military & Veteran Success department where the goal is to improve direct student services for our Veterans and Military families. Through these efforts, Dr. Cordova works tirelessly to ensure the best environment exists for Veterans who enroll at Florida Gulf Coast University to thrive. This is realized by improving their physical and behavioral health, and ensuring the appropriate student support resources exist to help them succeed in reaching their education and career goals.

Dr. Cordova’s passion and support for the US Armed Forces runs deep as he comes from a military family where his father and uncle served in the U.S. Air Force, while his great uncle served in the U.S Army during World War II. In addition, his father-in-law is a proud Vietnam Veteran serving the U.S. Navy and his brother-in-law currently serves as a Naval Aviator. Dr. Cordova earned his BS degree in Athletic Training from East Stroudsburg University, his Master’s degree in Athletic Training from Indiana State University, and his PhD in Biomechanics from The University of Toledo. Dr. Cordova also completed the Crisis Leadership in Higher Education certificate program from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

His passion for supporting Veterans began back in 2014 when teamed up with Home Base to help create the Warrior Health and Fitness program in Southwest Florida (SWFL). Over the past 9 years, this program has grown tremendously serving more than 600 Veterans and Military families. This growth helped establish a significant component of what is now Home Base Florida. Through these efforts, Home Base recognized Dr. Cordova with their Veteran and Community Builder Award in 2016. Since then, the relationship with Home Base has grown even stronger where we have worked towards developing outpatient mental health services in Southwest Florida in partnership with Lee Health and the David Lawrence Center. The Warrior Health & Fitness program now serves as an important feeder for Veterans to receive more specialized clinical care services at regional sites in SWFL or for the Intensive Clinical Program in Boston.

Lastly, Dr. Cordova has been working with Home Base in leading a large collaborative team in developing the concept for an incredible Center for Veterans Student Success at Florida Gulf Coast University.

For questions, contact Pam Davis: events@patriotfundinc.org or Call (317) 509-5104

Please click HERE to register for this worthwhile event!