The New York City Police Department (NYPD) and New York City Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS) hosted a health and wellness luncheon today to honor police officers who are also Veterans that received Transcendental Meditation (TM) through nonprofit Operation Warrior Shield in partnership with the David Lynch Foundation. The officers also received Mental Health First Aid training through the NYPD Health and Wellness Unit. During the event, John “SohoJohnny” Pasquale presented a check to Operation Warrior Shield, proceeds from the celebrity benefit gala thrown on 9/11/21 in NYC.
SohoJohnny’s Celebrity Benefit Gala paid tribute to the 20-year anniversary of 9/11 with a barrage of fashion and music celebrating New York Fashion Week and a prelude to the opening of Broadway. The Let Me Help, Inc foundation founded by John “SohoJohnny” Pasquale strives to help people whose lives and livelihoods have been affected in some way by unforeseen circumstances or illness by raising money through the celebration of music, laughter and dance, and will be benefiting “Operation Warrior Shield”, an organization helping wounded veterans through the use of service dogs.
Thirty-two officers were honored at the luncheon for taking a course in TM to reduce and mitigate everyday acute and chronic stress and help to raise performance. Ed Schloeman, President of Operation Warrior Shield and Bob Roth, Chief Executive Officer of the David Lynch Foundation helped to establish the program with the NYPD. The Center for Resilience of the David Lynch Foundation has used the TM method for 15 years to train military Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress, at-risk families, and most recently, the NYPD and Herndon Police Department of Virginia. Of the 32 NYPD Veterans trained in TM, 88% were combat Veterans in Iraq and/or Afghanistan.
“The Health and Wellness Section is honored to work with Operation Warrior Shield and the David Lynch Foundation in offering our members this essential training. It is a top priority to offer our members who serve in the military and the department these wellness resources. Our members overall physical, mental and emotional wellbeing contributes to a resilient workforce. We are looking forward to offering this training to additional members starting in October,” said Deputy Inspector Mark Wachter, Commanding Officer of the NYPD Health and Wellness Unit.
Concurrently with the TM course, the NYPD Veterans take Mental Health First Aid which utilizes role-playing and simulations to demonstrate how to offer initial help in a mental health crisis and connect people to the appropriate peer, social, and self-help care professionals for assistance.
The programs were offered by the NYPD Health and Wellness’ Unit, whose mission is to provide vital resources and relevant training that enhance each member’s overall physical, mental, and emotional well-being, and continually promote a culture of wellness that sustains a resilient workforce. At the meeting, the NYPD announced that it will allocate $30,000 to expand the David Lynch Foundation program. The expansion will continue starting in October 2021.
The New York City Department of Veterans’ Services co-sponsored the event and worked with the David Lynch Foundation to provide Transcendental Meditation to Veterans in need.
Veterans who would like to know more about DVS can call (212) 416 2520 or visit www.nyc.gov/vets.
The official website for SohoJohnny may be found at https://www.sohojohnny.com
The official website for Let Me Help, Inc may be found at https://letmehelpinc.org