Amy Grant and Vince Gill to host Challenge Aspen event in D.C.

ASPEN ” Christian rocker Amy Grant wants America to remember its wounded veterans.

Grant and her husband, Vince Gill, will host Challenge America 2008, a performance at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on June 17.The event will raise money for Challenge Aspen’s recreation programs, which are geared toward disabled veterans and their families.

Grant said it’s a worthy cause.

“Just the numbers of people coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan are unbelievable,” Grant said by phone from her Nashville home last week. “We’re just trying to set an example for America that this is our family.”

It’s not a political move for Grant, she said, as she’s appealing to both Democrat and Republican lawmakers for support. The effort has nothing to do with supporting or denouncing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Grant stressed. Instead, the fundraiser is meant to help veterans she says are America’s “family.”

“It’s not a fancy show, even though it’s in a fancy place,” Grant said.

Attendees will have a chance to hear the tales of wounded veterans, which will make their experiences even more real, Grant said.

Grant is working on a song she’s calling “Welcome Home,” and hopes to have it finished in time for the event.

“We don’t want to be reminded of the price of anything,” Grant said, but the Challenge America event and putting wounded veterans in the mainstream raises awareness about their experiences.

Grant has taken her case to Washington before, something she likened to “taking a bucket of water to the ocean.” She said she hopes the event in Washington and the involvement of former presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, former vice president Al Gore, Gen. Colin Powell, Sen. William H. Frist and ABC News co-anchor Bob Woodruff will give the project some clout.

The Wounded Warrior project, a nonprofit that supports injured veterans, is the honorary sponsor of the June fundraiser, which seeks to collect private contributions, Grant said.

Houston Cowan, CEO of Challenge Aspen, said any money raised will go to Operation Challenge Aspen Military Opportunities, a program that provides recreation and competition opportunities to disabled veterans.

For every fatality in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are 16 soldiers who survive with major injuries, Grant said. Participating in sports has proved a benefit to them, she said.

“The recovery process is so multilayered,” Grant said of wounded veterans returning to life in the U.S.

While the perception of wounded veteran is that they’re not on a level playing field, Grant said in reality, injured soldiers still are the same brave, athletic people they were before their injuries.

“I feel like that’s why something so physical works as a component to re-engage,” Grant said of vets getting out on skis.

Although Challenge Aspen has attracted more than 4,000 visits from veterans over the years, Grant hopes the program will draw more national interest and help it grow.

“This is basically a new division of Challenge Aspen that we want to focus specifically on disabled veterans,” Cowan said, adding that he hopes the event will be a model for other programs around the country.

“They actually come out and they’ve been on the snow and skied with disabled veterans,” Cowan said of Grant and Gill, who own a home in the Aspen area.

To learn more about Challenge America or the June 17 performance in Washington, visit the Web at http://www.challengeamerica2008.com

cagar@aspentimes.com