The 28th Annual Pocono Prayer Breakfast (formally known as the Pocono Leadership Prayer Breakfast) will be held at 6:15 a.m. on Oct. 3, at Kalahari Resorts & Conventions Center.

Doors to the Kalahari Event/Conference Center open at 6:15 a.m.

A breakfast buffet is available from 6:15-7:15 a.m. The formal part of the program starts at 7:15 a.m. and concludes by 8:30 a.m. Afterward, there will be a short social that runs through 9 a.m.

The Stroudsburg High School band opens the program every year with a military tribute to honor our veterans, and this year, they will feature students from Faith Christian School who will sing during the breakfast hour and before the Prelude. A special performance of “Is He Worthy” will be sung by the students during the program.

Major General Julie Bentz (retired) as the featured speaker. Major General Bentz retired from the U.S. Army after a successful 33-year career. She served on the Executive Office of the President National Security Council for three consecutive administrations as senior adviser for Emerging Technologies, Deputy Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction, Director of Strategic Capabilities, Director of Nuclear Defense Policy, Deputy Director of the Joint Improvised Explosives Device Defeat Organization and Vice Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

The Pocono Prayer Breakfast was started by Jack Muehlhan about 30 years ago.

Two-hundred and forty people attended the first breakfast.

After 26 years, Muehlhan determined it was time to hand the reins to someone else. Charlie Trapasso stepped up to fill the role.

“For 27 years, the Pocono Prayer Breakfast has brought over 700 community and business leaders who join together to hear a message of hope and pray for our government, businesses, health care, education, faith communities, residents, and families,” said Trapasso.

The breakfast (always held on the first Tuesday of October) is a nonprofit event that highlights what unites us as Americans, with a focus on God and country.

Those interested in attending can purchase tickets online at poconoprayerbreakfast.org.