Michele Merrell and Richard DeNapoli Co-Host Patriot Dinner with Michael Flynn Which Raises $140K for SolderStrong Organization

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Patriot Dinner event featuring keynote speaker General Michael Flynn and co-hosted by Michele Merrell and Richard DeNapoli to benefit the SoldierStrong charitable organization on Friday, May 21, 2021, attracted some 300 attendees and raised $140,000. This amount included a specific contribution of $21,319 which represented all of the proceeds collected from ticket sales after expenses, with the co-hosts taking no fee and donating their time.  

The monies raised were enough to purchase another technologically advanced "SoldierSuit," which enables military veterans with spinal cord injuries sustained during combat to literally walk again. General Michael Flynn, after seeing the demonstration of the revolutionary SoldierSuit exoskeleton that enabled paralyzed veteran Staff Sergeant Bryce Cherryholmes to walk, asked everyone to support SoldierStrong and said, "We witnessed a miracle tonight." General Flynn specifically thanked Merrell and DeNapoli during his speech for organizing the event.   

Chris Meek, the co-founder and Chairman of SoldierStrong, wrote that Merrell and DeNapoli "both did an excellent job pulling this event together within such a short period of time, and we are forever grateful for your efforts and taking no fee for yourselves, which was incredibly generous." 

Meek emphasized that the Patriot Dinner event "illustrated the strong sense of veteran support that exists in Broward County." The money raised "allows us to further the important work we do to help our nation's heroes take their next steps forward in life." Meek thanked Richard DeNapoli and Michele Merrell in a letter for organizing the event.

SoldierStrong is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose mission is to provide revolutionary technology, innovative advancements and educational opportunities to veterans to better their lives and the lives of their families. 

Michele Merrell is a nationally recognized senior-level technology and telecommunications executive with 30 years' experience in organizations ranging from start-up to mature, private, public and pre-IPO. She is the President of Merrell Consulting Group. Michele was the recipient of the Florida Achievement Award from the Florida Commission on the Status of Women. She has been elected twice as the Broward Republican State Committeewoman since 2018.  

Richard DeNapoli is the Chief Trust Officer & Fiduciary Counsel of a Florida-based Trust Company that manages over $1.7 billion in assets. Richard DeNapoli served as a Florida Real Estate Commissioner from 2007-2013 and is currently the only Republican elected to the Broward Soil & Water Conservation District (2018-Present). He was elected in twin landslides as the Broward Republican State Committeeman in 2016 and 2020.

SOURCE The Patriot Dinner