Disabled Veterans National Foundation Pleased With Success of Event in Flint, MI

Last week, the Disabled Veterans National Foundation (http://www.dvnf.org) was fortunate enough to attend a health and wellness expo for homeless and low-income individuals in the Flint, MI region. The event, hosted by Community Outreach for Family & Youth ( women's coats COFY), offered health screenings, nutrition services, employment and fitness services to those in attendance.
Veterans who attended the event were greeted by DVNF and given a laundry bag filled with items such as clothing, toothbrushes, towels, combs, blankets, prescription discount cards and other essential items. DVNF staff also provided these veterans with resume and budgeting tips along with information on DVNF programs offered to veterans nationwide. On top of all this, DVNF provided these veterans and their families with a free lunch from Subway.
Raegan Rivers, Chief Administrative Officer of DVNF says that she was very satisfied with how the event went. "With all the veterans that came to the expo, we couldn't have been more pleased at the turnout," Rivers said. "However, it is still a sobering reminder that this is just a fraction of the homeless and low-income veterans in the country. The obvious goal is to get to a point where these events aren't necessary for veterans, but until then, DVNF will continue to serve those in need."
The event kicked off at 11am on Saturday, July 21 with a local drum line performance and continued with door prizes being raffled off throughout the afternoon. The mayor of Flint, Dwayne Walling, was also in attendance, as well as the sheriff and local media. The event concluded at 3pm. All of the excess food purchased by DVNF was given to the veterans at a local Catholic charity. 25 of the care kits and laundry bags were donated to Alternative Veterans Solutions, a new "one stop" facility for veterans in Flint that will open its doors in October.
COFY's CEO, Patrick Sanders, discussing the efforts to assist disabled veterans at this annual event said, "A really big part of our event is the disabled veterans to say to those who are no longer serving the country that we are here, we are with you in your struggle and this is just a little something to say thank you."
About Disabled Veterans National Foundation: The Disabled Veterans National Foundation exists to change the lives of men and women who came home wounded or sick after defending our safety and our freedom. A nonprofit 501c3, DVNF was founded in the fall of 2007 by six women veterans to expand their scope of work within the veteran's community. For more information, visit http://www.dvnf.org.