Monday, July 17, 2017

Tips For Organizing Events To Support Homeless Veterans

By Ann Hughes


Most people know a friend, relative or colleague who enrolled in the armed forces. Once they have served their time and come back home, a couple of them have a hard time going back to their routines both at work and home. With help and patience from their friends and family, this is possible, but you can go the extra mile by organizing events to Support Homeless Veterans celebrate their bravery and courage and lead better quality lives.

Start by talking to community members. The success of your occasion will depend on the attendance by the targeted people, and also the support the local community will provide. You have to involve the veterans and their families in the planning, and if you are planning to do this regularly, some of these same people should have seats on the management committee.

The chosen activities will be as important as the events themselves. The things you plan should benefit the veterans, but they should also involve the local community. Therefore, if for example, you plan a training seminar for the former soldiers, you should also have another session where these soldiers can interact with the community members.

The location and the date of the various activities will also need to be considered. Major holidays should be avoided. Alternatively, you could choose days where you know many people will be free like weekends or school holidays for public marches. Weekdays can be reserved for training sessions. Most major towns have a veterans association, and these people can offer you their premises for some events. For others, you might need to liaise with the state government.

Even if you are planning to keep people for only two hours, you will be required to provide some form of refreshments. You could team up with community members, and they can bring what they have. This will help you keep your expenditure to the minimum. However, at some point, you shall need to get funding from outside, because you though store owners can donate sodas and water, you find that speakers and venues will also need to be paid as well.

Look for volunteers. Most charity activities thrive on volunteers. Art students can help you create the posters and a website, where you can post the information about upcoming occasions. Additionally, you can rope in professionals to offer their services for free or lower rates for these sessions or workshops.

After you settle on the venue date and activities for your occasion, start advertising it. This will ensure that people can plan for it, and will not boycott it on the basis that they were not prepared. Proper marketing might also be what you need, to get more donors. Social media and posters are what most organizations use because both mediums are cheap and can be used to reach many people.

If organizing your show is proving difficult, team up with an existing veteran support group. This way, you do not have to start from scratch because they will already have their network of employees and systems. Here, you will also not be required to put in as much time, yet you will still be able to offer support in your field of expertise.




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