When Demetrius Lewis joined the Elks Club in late 2014 the Veterans Committee had been dormant, but under his leadership, the group has started to flourish and help meet veterans’ needs.
The Veterans Committee holds breakfasts twice a month at the Elks Lodge, and it regularly draws 120 people. All the proceeds from the meals go into a fund that has given away $5,000, mostly for veteran housing, Lewis said.
Businesses sponsor the breakfasts, so that all the money from attendees can be given away, he said
“I wanted to do something where the community could come together and meet each other, so I started the veterans breakfasts,” he said.
The Veterans Committee has also given away backpacks filled with school supplies for veterans’ children or grandchildren, bought annual veterans bus passes, and donated to local veterans groups such as Building Homes for Heroes, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Blue Star Mothers. Blue Star Mothers supports moms with children who are serving in the military or are veterans.
Lewis, 52, restarted the Veterans Committee because he served for ten years in the Army from 1982 to 1992, and he wanted to give back.
After he graduated from high school in Alton, Illinois, he couldn’t find a job, and so he joined the military. He recommends that everyone serve during peace time.
“I think it’s a good experience for everybody,” he said.
It left him with a sense of patriotism that he has carried with him.
“I respect my country. I don’t care who is leading it. There ain’t no name on that flag,” he said.
He was trained to be diesel mechanic, but worked as a records clerk, supply purchaser, and in the Gulf War he supplied parts to the front lines.
He was deployed for about nine months during the war and drove through combat zones in Baghdad and Kuwait. At one point, he couldn’t get out of his truck for three days because the land mines around the road.
He left the military shortly after his deployment.
“I got out because I just felt the war wasn’t complete, and I didn’t want to get shot at twice,” Lewis said.
In the early 1990s, he moved to Durango to be close to his son Christopher, now 27, and worked at The Durango Herald in the mail room and later as the circulation supervisor.
He left the Herald to work in construction and started his own contracting company in June.
Starting his own business has given him more flexibility for hobbies and to manage Veterans Committee.
The committee has held breakfasts for 18th months thus far, and the meals have grown in attendance from 20 people to 180 people in early November.
Lewis would like to expand the breakfasts to include deliveries to disabled veterans that can’t leave their homes.
He would also like to start a fund that can offer emergency assistance to veterans. Right now, applications for assistance take about a week for the committee to process.
“Some of them get sideways with their expenses and just need a little help, he said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
Breakfasts for vets
The Elks Veterans Committee serves breakfast from 9 to 11 a.m. on the first and third Sunday of the month at 901 East Second Avenue.
The cost is $6 for veterans, $7 for nonveterans, $4 for children 12 and younger.
