Rock_Steady
05-21-2012, 15:15
This weekend I volunteered for, and received a job working as an event manager for a local Politian who is running for my state legislature. It is a job that doesn't pay anything, but comes with power of influence.
I started brainstorming events I could do, and came up with something that helps my candidate because he is a veteran, but is a lot more than that, and I wanted the input of other veterans on it.
The ideal is that man goes off to war, fights for his country, sacrifices, and then comes home victoriously to a parade and a gracious community. The reality for many Iraq/Afghan vets is that they are deployed numerous times with no one taking much notice other than their immediate family, and the small community of people around a base. There is a big disconnect, especially in these current wars, between the military and the civilian world, with the civilians not knowing or understanding much of what their veterans have gone through or what they need as they transition back, or even that they left or came back at all.
The community I live in is one distant from any military base, and where people do a double take when they see someone in ACUs.
I feel like a lot of civilians are grateful for the sacrifices of their fighting men, and would like to say thank you, but do not know how. Here is my idea. I would like to rent out a big area like a county fair ground, and have an event so that my community can say thank you. It would start in the morning like 1000 hours with veterans in uniform marching onto a field calling cadence with a big audience. This is symbolic of soldiers marching home. Then have a few important people from the community give a speech similar to a military ceremony, but a little less formal. The afternoon and night would be filled with a concert with local musicians and food and drink donated from the community. There would be booths for veterans giving information about benefits, employments, etc. and booths for civilians with literature about veterans needs. Maybe the night before, have a ceremony for locals that have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. All the profits from the events would go to help veterans in the community.
I don’t think there is any other issues that could unite a community the way an event like this could. I think it could be something positive. I have informally pitched this to a couple people, and had positive feedback, but that is as far as I have gone. There are some fundraisers coming up where I am going to meet important, affluent people in the community. I am curious as to what you think about this, and if you have any ideas.
I started brainstorming events I could do, and came up with something that helps my candidate because he is a veteran, but is a lot more than that, and I wanted the input of other veterans on it.
The ideal is that man goes off to war, fights for his country, sacrifices, and then comes home victoriously to a parade and a gracious community. The reality for many Iraq/Afghan vets is that they are deployed numerous times with no one taking much notice other than their immediate family, and the small community of people around a base. There is a big disconnect, especially in these current wars, between the military and the civilian world, with the civilians not knowing or understanding much of what their veterans have gone through or what they need as they transition back, or even that they left or came back at all.
The community I live in is one distant from any military base, and where people do a double take when they see someone in ACUs.
I feel like a lot of civilians are grateful for the sacrifices of their fighting men, and would like to say thank you, but do not know how. Here is my idea. I would like to rent out a big area like a county fair ground, and have an event so that my community can say thank you. It would start in the morning like 1000 hours with veterans in uniform marching onto a field calling cadence with a big audience. This is symbolic of soldiers marching home. Then have a few important people from the community give a speech similar to a military ceremony, but a little less formal. The afternoon and night would be filled with a concert with local musicians and food and drink donated from the community. There would be booths for veterans giving information about benefits, employments, etc. and booths for civilians with literature about veterans needs. Maybe the night before, have a ceremony for locals that have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. All the profits from the events would go to help veterans in the community.
I don’t think there is any other issues that could unite a community the way an event like this could. I think it could be something positive. I have informally pitched this to a couple people, and had positive feedback, but that is as far as I have gone. There are some fundraisers coming up where I am going to meet important, affluent people in the community. I am curious as to what you think about this, and if you have any ideas.