Veterans & Vintners Honored on Veterans Day
U.S. Military General and Napa Vintner Recipients of Roots of Peace Global Citizen Award.
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | MEDIA CONTACTS: | |
| Heidi Kuhn, CEO: 415.455.8008 | ||
| Noah Griffin, ROP: 415-756-3933 |
U.S. Military General and Napa Vintner Recipients of Roots of Peace Global Citizen Award.
November 11, 2012—Napa Valley, California—This Veterans Day, Roots of Peace will present the distinguished Global Citizen Award to Major General Barbara J. Faulkenberry, USAF, one of the highest-ranking women in the U.S. Military, and Napa Valley Vintner and Financier, Paul E. Dean. This humanitarian award recognizes military forces and market forces joining together to turn Mines To Vines® – replacing the scourge of landmines with bountiful vineyards worldwide.
The events will occur on Sunday, November 11, 2012, on the grounds of the Veterans Home of California, Yountville – the largest Veterans Home in the United States of America.
10:30AM ROP Redwood Grove Ceremony (Take Right Entrance) 12:30PM Presentation of ROP 2012 Global Citizen Awards at Lincoln Theater 1:30PM Coin Toss at ROP Fountain, Grgich Hills Estate, Napa Valley
“From a humanitarian perspective, we strive to define a new equation for peace by linking market forces with military forces as we turn MINES TO VINES®, stated Heidi Kühn. “The selection of our Roots of Peace Global Citizens represents ‘Veteran and Vintner’ – united together in the heart of the Napa Valley at the largest Veterans Home in the United States.”
Maj. Gen. Barbara Faulkenberry flew 1,400 miles from Baghdad to the Shomali Plain, Afghanistan in November 2009 to personally witness the Roots of Peace Harvest of fresh grapes on former minefields. In 2012, Roots of Peace exported 3,000 metric tons of fresh fruit to foreign countries, doubling and tripling the income for Afghan farmers.
Afghanistan is a country 80% dependent upon agriculture, and 44% of the population is under the age of 14 years old. As U.S. Military forces draw down, the legacy of Roots of Peace is to empower the Afghan farmers for future generations.
Paul E. Dean earned his MBA from Harvard in 1968 and is currently Chairman of NorthCoast Asset Management. Paul has been a strong advocate and financial supporter since the inception of Roots of Peace in the Fall of 1997. He is also the CEO of Spiriterra Vineyards in Napa Valley and personally donated the funds to turn Mines To Vines® in the Fields of Bethlehem. There are an estimated 1.5 million landmines in The Holy Land preventing shepherds from tending to their flocks and children from playing in the fields. Inspired by young Daniel Yuval, who stepped on a landmine at age 11 in a rare snowfall in the Golan Heights, Paul was inspired to travel with his wife Shirley and personally visit the minefields of Israel/West Bank in January 2012. Paul is a man “who walks the talk.”
Past recipients of the Roots of Peace Global Citizen Award include:
- Her Majesty Queen Noor
- Miljenko “Mike” Grgich
- Ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad
- Gillian Martin Sorensen
- Theodore C. Sorensen
- Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed
- Shirley Buchanan Dean
- Daniel Yuval
- Jerry White
- Robert Mondavi
- Margrit Biever Mondavi
- Lieutenant General John F. Campbell
- William P. Murray, Jr.
