NASA Education To Receive $1 Million In Grants At Oct. 22 Reception

National Association of Systems Administrators Education Corporation (NASA Education), a Crystal Lake-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, will receive more than $1 Million worth of grants and donations at a recognition reception to take place on the evening of Monday, October 22, 2007, at the Holiday Inn Crystal Lake, 800 South Route 31, in Crystal Lake. L. Tammy Duckworth, the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) will unveil future plans of the IDVA during the program segment of the evening. She will also present two of the grants funded by the IDVA Scratch-Off Lottery Grant Program to NASA Education.

Crystal Lake, IL (PRWEB) October 18, 2007 -- National Association of Systems Administrators Education Corporation (NASA Education) http://www.nasaeducation.org , a Crystal Lake-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, will receive more than $1 Million worth of grants and donations at a recognition reception to take place on the evening of Monday, October 22, 2007, at the Holiday Inn Crystal Lake, 800 South Route 31, in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

L. Tammy Duckworth, the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) will unveil future plans of the IDVA during the program segment of the evening. She will also present two of the grants funded by the IDVA Scratch-Off Lottery Grant Program to NASA Education.

Patrick Winfrey, Illinois State Director for Veterans' Employment and Training (VETS), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), will also speak during the program.

A social hour and registration will take place from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., with the program to begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend this free event. Please R.S.V.P. by phoning the toll-free number at 866-338-4968. Business attire is suggested.

Director Duckworth, who holds the rank of Major in the Illinois National Guard, was awarded the Purple Heart after the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents on November 12, 2004. She was appointed Director of the IDVA effective December 15, 2006, by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"Of all the veterans' agency offices I have visited throughout the country, the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs by far provides the most comprehensive veterans' programming and support in any state, and this is due to Director Duckworth's efforts," said John Blanchard, who in 1999 founded NASA Education, a Crystal Lake-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Blanchard served for eight years with the U.S. Navy.

NASA Education's major programs are Project Fresh Start, a comprehensive vocational rehabilitation and community rehabilitation program for U.S. veterans who are newly released, displaced, disabled, homeless, unemployed or otherwise in transition, and the Stand Down for Veterans, which recently took place at YMCA Camp Algonquin and provided social services for 110 veterans.

Those to be recognized at the reception include service providers, volunteers, veterans' organizations, community organizations, businesses, grant makers, private donors and all others who have supported NASA Education's programs.

The recognition reception is funded by NASA Education's corporate sponsors, National Association of System Administrators, Inc. (NASA, Inc.), a provider of hardware maintenance and operating system support, and National Association of Systems Administrators Corporation (NASA Corp.), a developer of case management software, as well as the disabled veteran-owned and operated Avant-Garde Companies, Anchor Solutions, Liberating Solutions, and Vet-Teks.

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