David Bates, who is the owner and founder of Warriors Way, was awarded the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for public service along with a gold medal.
LIMA, OH (WLIO) - A Jefferson Award winner and owner of a local non-profit was honored with an award for his public service.
Bates is an Iraq War veteran and was also a 2024 Jefferson Award winner this year for his service efforts in Warriors Way.
David Bates, who is the owner and founder of Warriors Way, was awarded the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for public service along with a gold medal. Bates is an Iraq War veteran and was also a 2024 Jefferson Award winner this year for his service efforts in Warriors Way.
If you or a veteran you know would like to sign up for a knife-making class with David and Warriors Way, you can visit their website at https://warriorsway.org/.
Warriors Way is a program Bates created to help military veterans of all ages and backgrounds with their mental health and PTSD. The program allows veterans to create their own knives and provides a constructive outlet for their struggles. Bates knows the importance of helping his fellow veterans and wants to continue to raise the bar for veterans' care.
"I'm very humbled to receive that kind of recognition for what I'm doing here and the mission we're trying to accomplish here. For a better term of words that I've always been told by NCOs that came before me, it's to make sure you honor the sacrifice of those that come before you, so I think I'm hopefuly doing a good job honoring the ones that came before me," stated David Bates, president and founder of Warriors Way.
Bates also knows that the work he and his non-profit are doing has proven to save lives of veterans and that his work can't slow down.
"Each veteran's different. The more veterans we get in here and help, the more the more that depression, anxiety, suicide isn't a stigmitism that makes you seem weak for going to get help, I think is the biggest thing. It's not a weakness to ask for help, and that's what we're here for," added Yates.
If you or a veteran you know would like to sign up for a knife-making class with David and Warriors Way, you can visit their website at https://warriorsway.org/.
