Filmmaker David Lynch Announces $500,000 Matching Grant to Teach Transcendental Meditation to 10,000 Veterans
NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Iconic filmmaker David Lynch will announce this September 11 a $500,000 matching grant to be used to teach the Transcendental Meditation technique to 10,000 veterans with post-traumatic stress (PTS) and their families.
Lynch is inviting philanthropists and foundations to match the offer by Veterans Day, November 11, 2011.
Hollywood directors Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, and George Lucas, as well as Dr. Mehmet Oz, Paul McCartney, Jerry Seinfeld, and Russell Brand have joined Lynch in support of the outreach.
Lynch's veteran's initiative comes from Operation Warrior Wellness (OWW), a division of the David Lynch Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 2005 to bring Transcendental Meditation to at-risk populations.
According to Norman Rosenthal, M.D., psychiatrist and medical researcher at Georgetown University Medical School and author of the New York Times bestseller, Transcendence, research on the Transcendental Meditation technique on OEF/OIF veterans and Vietnam veterans demonstrates its effectiveness for reducing symptoms of PTS—and treating disorders associated with the illness. Findings include:
- Reduced PTS: 40 to 50 percent reduction in PTS symptoms, including depression, anxiety, flashbacks, and insomnia (see PTS)
- Greater resiliency: Reduced stress levels and quicker recovery from stress (see Resiliency to stress)
- Reduced cardiovascular disease: Decreased blood pressure, harmful cholesterol, and atherosclerosis; and a 47 percent reduction in cardiovascular-related mortality (see Cardiovascular disease)
- Decreased substance abuse: Decreased smoking, alcohol, and drug abuse (see Substance abuse)
- Decreased medical expenditures: 14 percent reduction in annual medical expenditures, as compared to the norm (see Decreased healthcare utilization)
"Operation Warrior Wellness is giving our dedicated service men and women a meditation technique that is a traumatic stress buster," said David Lynch. "When they get this simple, effortless technique they will get their lives back."
Operation Warrior Wellness is working with veterans' service organizations, army bases, and military colleges to bring Transcendental Meditation to active duty personnel and veterans and their families.
For more information on how to contribute to the matching grant campaign of Operation Warrior Wellness, please contact Heather Hartnett at 212-644-9880, or email [email protected].
To arrange press interviews with leaders of Operation Warrior Wellness, please contact Steve Yellin at 641-455-9999, or email [email protected].
SOURCE Operation Warrior Wellness
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