Congratulations to Board Member Donna De Varona

Congratulations to Board member Donna de Varona, who was recently honored by the Right to Play Foundation’s benefit dinner in NYC! Thanks to her spouse and Army Veteran John Pinto, who hosted a table in her honor, I attended the event as their guest, together with scores of Olympians. Donna spoke movingly of the great work Right to Play is doing around the world; for the U.S. Operation, go to www.righttoplay.com/us. Founded by fellow Olympian Johann Koss (the Norwegian speed skater), Right to Play gives the gift of sport to refugee children around the world; some 750,000 participate every day in scores of developing countries. Donna showed a wonderful video her daughter Johanna produced on the family’s visit to an African refugee camp, to see Right To Play at work.

Donna is so deserving on this honor. A two-time gold medalist for the United States in the 1964 Summer games, she was instrumental in the passage of Title IX, which revolutionized women’s sports participation in the U.S. A founder of the Women’s Sports Foundation, she’s an Emmy-award winning sportscaster, and recipient of the Olympic Order, the highest award of the Olympic movement. She has travelled throughout Vietnam in a USO tour for the troops, and more recently, visited our men and women in uniform on leave in Qatar.

Donna’s father served in World War II as a combat medic for the Red Cross. She has been a Veterans Advantage Advisory Board member since the inception of our program. We are most appreciative of her participation as she gives back to all who serve.

Honoree and Olympic Champion Donna de Varona with John Pinto, flanked by 2010 U.S. Bobsled Olympic gold medalist Steve Holcomb (left) and Norwegian Olympic speed skating champion and Right To Play Founder Johann Koss (right) together with (l to r.), Paul Manafort, Summer Sanders, Scott Higgins, Joanna Pinto, John-David Pinto, Jim Reid, Kathy Manafort, and Mary Lynn Blanks (next to Donna).