By Alison Bailin Batz

Images: Dropbox

All Gave Some, Some Gave All
Some stood through for the red, white and blue
And some had to fall
And if you ever think of me
Think of all your liberties and recall
Some Gave All

This month, Arizona will join the rest of the nation as we honor the men and women of our armed forces during Veterans Day.

In the Valley, Folds of Honor Arizona honors the memories of those made the ultimate sacrifice for our country by helping their families each and every day. The organization was founded at the national level in 2007 and expanded to Arizona in 2010, initially raising funds through a golf tournament and now gaining steam across the state.

“We focus on raising funds so that educational scholarships can be provided to families of service men and women who lost their lives in the line of duty,” said Folds of Honor Arizona co-founder Rod Martin.

Folds of Honor Arizona has two main funding programs:

  • The Children’s Fund Scholarship program, which provides primary and secondary scholarship assistance for dependents in kindergarten through 12th grade of our nation’s service members.
  • The Higher Education Scholarship program, which provides post-secondary scholarship assistance for spouses and dependents of our nation’s service members.

“In honor of Veterans Day, we are hosting two events this month – and everyone in Arizona is invited to join us,” says Martin.

The first – Jetaway Music Festival – is being held on the WET Deck at The W Scottsdale Hotel on Friday, Nov. 8, which is the weekend prior to Veterans Day.

“The event, for which we are the sole beneficiary, will feature a combination of performers throughout the evening including local and touring country acts and DJs as well as headlining performers of national note and some other surprises,” says Martin.

Signed on to co-headline the event is hip hop artist and three-time Grammy Award winner Nelly, an avid supporter of American service men and women. Joining Nelly will be EDM DJ trio Cheat Codes, country star Dylan Scott and several local performers. Cheat Codes is an electronic music DJ trio consisting of KEVI (Kevin Ford), Trevor Dahl, and Matthew Russell based in Los Angeles. Dylan Scott is a country music star who is hot of his recent nomination as the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards Best New Country Artist.

“We mixed country with pop, dance and rap performances by design to truly make this something people ages 21 to 81 will want to support – something for everyone,” says Martin.

Beyond the live music, the event is actually nicknamed Jetaway as event partners Jetlinx and Hakkasan will auction off a roundtrip private jet vacation for four to Las Vegas. Also expect culinary creations from The W Hotel Scottsdale as well as beer, wine, cocktails – all for purchase or with VIP ticket packages – a photo booth, dancing and more. For more, visit www.jetawaymusicfest.com.

And then, the first-ever Folds of Honor Arizona Gala will place on Saturday, Nov. 9 at the Grayhawk Golf Club. The event will feature a cocktail hour and presentation by the Basha High School Honor Guard followed by a sumptuous dinner and two very special guests.

“Major Ed Pulido, who is the senior vice president of Folds of Honor and co-founder of Warriors for Freedom, will speak,” says Martin. “In 2004, he was hit by a road side bomb in Iraq, and it changed his life forever.”

Joining Major Pulido will be Captain Suzanna Ausborn, a retired United States Air Force Reserve Captain who served for 23 years as an enlisted airman and an officer serving as an air operations sergeant, aircraft maintenance, explosive safety and anti-terrorism officer.

Single tickets to this event start at $300 and sponsorships start at $2,500.

For more information, visit www.arizona.foldsofhonor.org.