Resurrection Catholic Church is hosting its inaugural Vets for Vets Outreach Fair on Friday, February 17 to provide local veterans with information on benefits, community activities, medical care and other support made available to them.
The Outreach Fair will take place at the church, located at 6819 Krycul Ave. off U.S. Highway 301 in Riverview, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The fair will be supported by representatives from James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and SOHI Clinic, MacDill Airforce Base, Paralyzed Veterans of America and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
“The idea is to get the information from the Veterans Administration into the hands of our local veterans, especially veterans who have fallen through the cracks in that area,” said Pastor Daniel Kayajan.
Pastor Kayajan hopes that the men and women who have given up on trying to receive help from the Veterans Administration are provided with the necessary information to get help.
By having active representatives from the organizations at the event, Resurrection Catholic Church also wants to make it easier for the veterans to get information, compared to trying to learn about the services online or over the phone.
“There are a lot of veterans in my parish, so I asked a few of them to get together, we chatted and off we went,” said Pastor Kayajan.
The Vets for Vets Outreach Fair will be supported by a handful of employees and volunteers at Resurrection Catholic Church, as it hopes to host 50-100 people. Coffee, doughnuts and other snacks will be provided at the event as well.
“I would like to see it happen on a regular basis. We will have to see what the VA tells us at the end of the fair,” said Pastor Kayajan.
Following its first annual Outreach Fair, Resurrection Church will speak to the representatives and veterans that attended to collect feedback on how it can improve next year. Its goal is to spread the word about the event to help make information about veteran services and benefits available to all who have served.
For more information on the Vets for Vets Outreach Fair, call the church at 813-677-2175.
