By Alyssa Schnugg
News Editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com
A grassroots local volunteer group whose sole mission is to improve the lives of veterans in the LOU community is seeking sponsors for its upcoming fundraiser.
Volunteers for Veterans – Oxford will be holding the 2019 Rally for the Veterans event at noon on April 20 at Boure’ on the downtown Square in Oxford.
It will include a motorcycle and classic car ride to the Mississippi State Veterans Home in Oxford, a poker walk on the historic Oxford Square, silent auction, door prizes and a drawing for a Booze Barrow (a wheelbarrow full of spirits).
Volunteers for Veterans – Oxford is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the daily lives of Veterans in need in Oxford and Lafayette County with special emphasis on the residents of the Veterans Home in Oxford.
“We are an all-volunteer, grassroots organization,” said Joe Dickey, chairman. “We are dedicated to making sure every dollar goes directly to help our local veterans.”
Sponsor levels are: General (Headline Sponsor) – $2,000; Colonel – $1,000; Major – $500; Captain – $200; Sergeant Major – $100; and Sergeant – $50.
All sponsors will be represented on banners at the event and on the group’s website and Facebook page. Sergeant Major and above sponsors will be represented on the event’s T-shirt. Major and above sponsors will receive a recognition item suitable for display in their home or business. Sponsorship is tax deductible.
Volunteers previously purchased a 70-inch television and theater system with a 120-inch screen for the Oxford Veterans Home.
“We buy men’s body wash for the residents because the stuff provided by the state does not work well and doesn’t smell very ‘manly,’ Dickey said. “This may not sound like much but it is a great morale booster.”
The group provides American flags so that when veterans exit the home for the final time they do so with dignity and honor draped in the flag they served.
It takes more than $4,000 per year just to provide flags and body wash,” Dickey said.
The group also provides newspaper and magazine subscriptions, a barbecue on Memorial Day, gifts at Christmas time and throughout the year that include hearing aids, electric razors, clothing and more. Each month, Volunteers for Veterans sponsors a veteran social on the first Saturday of the month to provide fellowship between veterans in and out of the home.
“We also purchased an electric scooter for a 77-year-old veteran attending the University of Mississippi and have helped the Student Veterans Association with items,” Dickey said.
This year Volunteers for Veterans has set a goal of installing a theater system in the chapel at the Veterans Home so residents can watch services from their church. Other goals this year include purchasing a 70-inch TV and DVD/Blu-ray player for the residents in the Alzheimer/dementia unit and replace some of the out-dated TVs.
“We continue to work to identify Veterans in the local community who need things such as wheelchair ramps, handicap accessories and repairs on their homes with a goal of helping Veterans be able to stay in their homes and live as independently as possible,” Dickey said. “We continue our ongoing efforts to search for new ways to meet the needs of these deserving Veterans.”
For information or to become a sponsor contact Joe Dickey at 601-896-3817 or email veterans38655@gmail.com. Donations can also be made via PayPal at veterans38655@gmail.com.
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