Comptroller Peter Franchot honored the Catch A Lift Fund (CAL) on Friday.
He presented the organization with the 2017 William Donald Schaefer Helping People Award for Baltimore County.
CAL started in 2010 in memory of Army Cpl. Chris Coffland, a Gilman High School graduate that died in Afghanistan.
"He believed that physical fitness changed you mentally and physically and that you could achieve your highest potential with physical fitness," said Lin Coffland, CAL founder and sister of Chris Coffland.
After her brother's death, Lin Coffland wanted to remember her brother's efforts to improve the lives of wounded veterans through fitness and support programs.
"I realized after doing an investigation that there were no physical fitness programs for returning combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan," said Coffland. "So, I started Catch A Lift, which is was a phrase my brother used every time he'd had to go to the gym."
CAL has helped thousands of wounded veterans with physical and mental health by providing fitness and nutrition programs, as well as a peer support network. Click here for more information about the organization.
