Heroes Homage is a registered 501c3 created to honor Cpl. Frank Robert Gross KIA in Afghanistan July 16, 2011. Frank was killed on his first tour with the Army when his humvee hit an ied. He was 25 at the time- his family buried him in Arlington National Cemetery in his birthday. Toni and Craig Gross, Frank's parents went on to be very active within the military community both with formulating their own non profit, Gold Star Awareness Inc as well as volunteering heavily with organizations including the USO, Gold Star Mothers & Fathers of Florida as well as the Fisher House, who lovingly supported us during Frank's dignified transfer. Natalie Gross, Frank's sister, struggled for many years to find her purpose. She tried various outlets in order to heal most fitness oriented. Growing up, she had always been active but never in a sense of really pushing it to the limit. Natalie also lived in Florida for many of her years and worked to the point of burn out- something a lot of survivors do. Numbing out is a coping mechanism & survivors can pick their poison- booze, drugs, television, video games, the list goes on and on. However, upon a recent move to Idaho and securing a job that finally allows a work life balance, Natalie has been able to finally actively strive towards proficiency with her two main loves: alpine climbing and trail running. These are so much more than hobbies, these are healing mechanisms. For many years, Natalie put a project on hold that she had an acute vision for- Heroes Homage. HH will focus primarily on Gold Star families who much like herself have dealt with the sudden loss of a loved one. The idea is to bring GS families together with veterans or active duty personnel for a weekend retreat in the wilderness. HH will aim to actively promote holistic healing through outdoor activities including hiking, yoga, grief share and other non traditional forms of therapy. All to no cost of the families, vets or AD. Natalie will be doing various events throughout the year to include alpine climbing, hiking, and trail running including Mount Rainier, a marathon in Las Vegas , an 18 mile trail run by Priest Lake, R3 (running the Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim), and eventually Mt. Denali in Alaska. Please bear in mind, she is terrified of heights, therefore many of these activities are not just a fun "walk in the park." These activities will be self funded- therefore, none of this donation money will go towards this. Your donation money will go directly to funding a piece of land where Natalie can build a few structures to house retreat HH participants. Natalie will fund the building of her structure herself. Thank you for reading this. Thank you veterans and active duty for your service. Thank you "Frankie" Robert Gross for the ultimate sacrifice. Please remember, freedom is not free.
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