DVEN Participates In Steve Mc Queen Car Show

The El Segundo, California based Disabled Veteran Empowerment Network (DVEN) is pleased to announce that they displayed a Porsche Boxster to help raise funds for Boys Republic during the 2022 Steve McQueen Car Show. DVEN is focused on helping disabled veterans address their challenges and get their lives back on track. Learn more about them at the following link: https://dven.org.

The Steve McQueen Car Show, formally known as the Friends of Steve McQueen Car and Motorcycle Show, is an automotive gathering and a commemorative dinner held on the first weekend of every June to raise funds for Boys Republic, a private, non-profit, nonsectarian community for at-risk boys and girls aged 13-17. The Car and Motorcycle show was established in 2008 by members and friends of the (Porsche) 356 Club of Southern California, and it attracts automobile, motorcycle and off-road motorsports enthusiasts from around the world.

Every summer, the Friends of Steve McQueen Car and Motorcycle Show brings thousands of spectators to the Boys Republic campus where 16-year-old Steve McQueen spent time as a student in 1946. Since its launch in 2008, the event has raised over $3,000,000 and helped attract corporate interest, resulting in donations of skilled labor and building materials through the Lowe’s Heroes community improvement project (valued at more than $100,000). Learn more about the Steve McQueen Car Show here: https://stevemcqueencarshow.com/.

Robert Hess, Vietnam veteran and founder of DVEN, says, “This year’s Steve McQueen Car Show was such an amazing event. I can’t believe I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 20 years and didn’t know about this show until this year. I also didn’t know Steve McQueen served a tour with the US Marine Corps and that he died at 50 from mesothelioma that he likely contracted during his Marine Corps service, something that resonates a lot with me as someone fighting for veteran’s rights.”

Hess continues, “During the show, DVEN had the chance to display our Porsche Boxster, and while we didn’t win any prizes, it did attract a lot of attention, and I had the chance to engage in some great conversations with veterans. I also had the honor of helping a Vietnam veteran learn how to connect with a DAV service officer, so for all intents and purposes, mission complete!” Read more: https://vetsrally4vets.com/2022/06/07/2022-steve-mcqueen-car-show-hightlights/.

Robert Hess is an avid car enthusiast, and he founded Rally4Vets. The Rally4Vets program offers an opportunity for the motorsports enthusiast community to help reduce veteran suicides by raising awareness and making more resources available to veterans dealing with PTSD. The program supports the mission of the Disabled Veteran Empowerment Network. Rally4Vets held their first Rally4Vets Top Dog Championship™ on October 10, 2021, at Summit Point Raceway, West Virginia. The Army won the first event. Rally4Vets will be back at Summit Point Raceway on 22 October 2022.

Hess says, “I’m an Army veteran and a PTSD survivor. It took me 20 years and the VA PTSD evaluation process to beat my PTSD, and I count myself fortunate because I did come to grips with everything that I went through. However, many other veterans aren’t so lucky. Over 6,000 veterans and active duty personnel take their own lives every year — that’s 20 lives every day. Almost one veteran lost every hour of every day. These losses are both tragic and preventable, and the critical first step in that process is educating the extended veteran community about the early warning signs, such as depression and social isolation, and I have dedicated myself to that cause.”

As part of his work with DVEN, Hess also created the Prostate Cancer Awareness Project 501 c3 non-profit charity in 2006 to help veterans with prostate cancer measure their risk and find their cancers while they still are treatable. He then expanded the organization’s mission to include support for all cancers in 2016, and the Prostate Cancer Awareness Project became The Cancer Journeys Foundation, also a 501 c3 non-profit charity, EIN 81-1880936.

Those who want to learn more about DVEN or the work that Robert Hess is doing to help Veterans should visit the DVEN website. Robert Hess encourages interested parties to get in touch with him, should they wish to contribute or help in some manner. The DVEN website has a variety of resources for veterans as well as those who wish to assist them. DVEN also maintains a presence on Facebook, and social media users can connect with the organization there.