An estimated 300 meals were served Easter Sunday at a fundraiser supporting Durango-area veterans.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 hosted the luncheon or breakfast, organized by the Veterans Relief Committee.
Demetrius Lewis, leader of the VRC, said proceeds from the public community breakfast help pay for veterans’ rent, furniture, utility bills and car payments.
Every event is sponsored, he said. the breakfast was sponsored by Liquor World, and the next luncheon or breakfast will be sponsored by the Rotary Club of Durango.
The food is paid for by the VRC, and the sponsorships ensure proceeds directly benefit veterans, he said.
Lewis said he has worked with volunteers for the committee for 13 years.
Jim Schoultz said he isn’t a veteran, but he’s volunteered for the VRC since near its beginning and volunteering is a way to give back to the people who sacrificed their lives for the country.
“The big part of it that does (it) for us is to get the community to connect with our veterans,” he said. “They get disconnected. They’ve done their service and come back and deal with traumatic things and whatnot, and readjusting to the community more or less.”
He said a big reason for the community meals is to connect veterans and non-veterans.
The VRC regularly has about eight volunteers, though that depends on the sponsor, Schoultz said. A sponsor will typically lend their crew to the VFW’s kitchen, and the crew will help prepare dishes planned by the VRC.
He said the VFW’s luncheons or breakfasts feature the best veterans’ biscuits and gravy in the county.
“It’s a good place to come and chit-chat and visit with people,” he said. “Some people come in here at 9 o’clock and they don’t leave here until 11. They see people. It’s a way to reconnect.”
Schoultz said some people lost contact after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the luncheon or breakfast brings people back together.
“That money is all donated to the Veterans Relief Committee that helps us take care of our veterans, whether they need a ramp built to get into their home or a ride to VA (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) hospital down in Albuquerque; utility bills; food; whatever we can do to help them out,” he said, adding there is a community car giveaway twice a year.
He said the VRC’s community efforts were driven by Lewis.
Schoultz said people are uncomfortable approaching veterans, as if like there was an invisible wall between them. Veterans have been through wars, but they’re still people like anyone else.
“My thing is, ‘Thank a veteran,’” he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
