Emergency Ministries “Hope for Heroes” gala set for November 12

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Emergency Ministries, a nonprofit organization that offers crisis chaplaincy services to emergency service personnel and their families, is hosting its 4th annual gala on Thursday, November 12 at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott & Convention Center. The gala, whose theme this year is “Hope for Heroes,” will feature as its keynote speaker Don Piper, author of the book and subject of the soon-to-be-released major motion picture “90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life.”

Emergency Ministries is a group of specially trained chaplains who respond to the needs of the first responder community by providing chaplaincy service to EMS, Fire, and Law Enforcement agencies both on-scene and “behind-scene,” with an emphasis on Critical Incident Stress mitigation. The services offered by Emergency Ministries are without regard to religious affiliation (or lack thereof).

Founded in December of 1998, Emergency Ministries became incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in 2000. “One very specific requirement to become an Emergency Ministries Chaplain is to have ‘Worn the Badge,’” said Straus. “This means that each of our chaplains has served as a first responder – as an EMT, Firefighter, Paramedic or Police Officer. It is vital to the success of our mission that the heroes we engage know they are sitting across from someone who truly has ‘been there, done that,’ and knows where they have been and what they have seen.”

“We have sat down – sometimes on the scene – with these everyday heroes on issues involving things such as; fatalities involving children, multiple fatality accidents, deaths of co-workers, marital problems, and substance abuse issues,” said J.C. “Skip” Straus, MA, CCC, EMT-P, and founder/CEO/Senior Chaplain of Emergency Ministries. “We are primarily funded by donations, and this gala is our annual opportunity to raise the funds needed to provide the services our everyday heroes so desperately need. We are thrilled to have Don Piper – a man who epitomizes the heroic efforts of our first responders – as our keynote speaker.”

Sponsorship opportunities for the “Hope for Heroes” gala are available at various levels. More information can be found on the website at www.emergencyministries.org or by emailing hopeforheroes@emchap.org.