The Veterans Outreach Office is a vital part of my administration. I started the office in 2018 to serve the almost 20 percent of our residents who are veterans.

The office has expanded to care for vets across northeast Ohio. Berea is the only City in Ohio with such an office and the only municipality to be designated a “We Honor Veterans” City. We also are a Purple Heart City.

Under the guidance of Chaplain Willie Springer, an Army veteran of Vietnam, and social worker volunteer Norma Kleem, the office reaches out to veterans, reservists and active duty military. They offer counseling and can connect vets to resources at the VA and other agencies.

 A core of veteran volunteers assists with visits to nursing homes and assisted living facilities, bringing entertainment and support to aging vets. The Veterans Security Team helps police at special events and provides crossing guards at Grindstone Elementary School. They also conduct flag folding ceremonies for students. Their latest project was to meet with adult students studying English as Second Language, explaining what it’s like to serve in the military.

The Veterans Outreach Office hosts a picnic every summer, conducts Memorial Services, conducts the 9/11 Ceremony and visits local community organizations.

To help fund these activities, the vets operate a popcorn stand at City events in the summer and collect donations at the annual Father’s Day Car Show, which they organize and host. Proceeds from the sale of a Christmas ornament that I designed went to the Veterans Office this year.

Your donations help support these projects too. For example, the neighbors on Ellen Drive donated the proceeds of their holiday 50/50 raffle to the veterans. Others have made similar contributions and for that we are extremely grateful.

AS we enter 2023, we are meeting with school officials and representatives of neighboring communities to expand our outreach even further. This Veterans Outreach Office is a prime example what a community can do to honor and support veterans. We have become the standard others seek to copy.

In 2022, we served more than 2,500 veterans and their families, from arranging for a wheelchair ramp for one Berea vet to mailing gift bags to Berea residents serving on active duty around the world, among the many other activities the office coordinates.

Your continuing support to help us help veterans is greatly appreciated. Whether it’s donating items for our monthly veteran’s raffle baskets or passing along a cash donation, we are forever thankful. To donate, go to the City web site -www.cityofberea.org or contact the Veterans Outreach Office, 31 E. Bridge St., Suite 300, Berea, OH 44017; wspringer@cityofberea.org; or (440) 973-4567.

As Chaplain Willie says, “Every day is Veterans’ Day.”