The Permission To Start Dreaming (PTSD) Foundation, a Gig Harbor-based nonprofit focused on raising awareness and funding for alternative therapies to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for returning soldiers, will hold its fifth annual Prayer Breakfast Friday, Sept. 25,  at 7 a.m. at the Jim & Carolyn Milgard Hope Center.

The prayer breakfast occurs two days prior to the foundation's signature Race for a Soldier half-marathon and 5K event Sept. 27, which begins and ends at the Tom Taylor Family YMCA in Gig Harbor.

Since Race for a Soldier began in 2011, the PTSD Foundation has distributed more than $122,000 in funding to alternative therapy programs, including Veterans Expeditions, Heartbeat for Warriors, and All American Assistance Dogs. Swing for a Soldier, the foundation's inaugural golf tournament, was held in August at the City of Auburn golf course. It raised more than $27,000 to support alternative therapies.

The PTSD Foundation was founded by Leslie Mayne, who lost her son, U.S. Army Pfc. Kyle Marshall Farr, to an accidental overdose of medications in a Baltimore hotel room in March 2009.

Mayne said her son was treated at several VA hospitals for his traumatic brain injury. He was released and was told he could self-medicate.

"I went to my own dark place for about a year," Mayne said. "What I discovered in my grieving is that our soldiers that struggle with PTSD need an extra hug along the way."

Mayne decided that more needed to be done for soldiers, like her son, who are dealing with traumatic brain injury.

"Unfortunately, (Kyle's) story is not unique," Mayne said. "This is why the Prayer Breakfast resonates with so many people."

Mayne said the Prayer Breakfast is her love letter to God.

"It was important to me that we offer a safe place for our soldiers to tell their story, and if we offered that opportunity, then more of the community would have a heart and something would ignite in them to encourage them to be part of this healing process," Mayne said.

About 450 people attend the Prayer Breakfast each year; a third of those are from the military community, Mayne said.

"We have added layers of music and fellowship and breakfast over the years," she said. "It's been an amazing response."

This year's keynote speaker is retired SEAL Team 6 Senior Chief Petty Officer James Hatch. Hatch was injured while on the hunt for Cpl. Bowe Bergdahl.

To learn more, visit ptsdfoundation.org.