4Patriots Helps VetLinx Connect Vets to Services and Resources

4Patriots recently participated as a sponsor of VetFest in Brentwood, Tennessee, donating a 2-Week Survival Food Kit and a Patriot Health Alliance Slimline Zero-Gravity Massage Chair  for drawings, as well as Emergency Food Bars for veterans’ gift bags. The event featured a Heroes Stroll, presentations, live music and prize drawings.

There are approximately 16.5 million veterans in the United States. There are also many organizations devoted to helping them acclimate to life back home and access programs established to benefit them.

But due to the wide variety of ways these organizations function and the documents they require, many veterans struggle to get connected and find the help they need. 

That’s the main reason VetLinx was established in 2011 and became a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization in 2013. It’s a collaborative community partnership program designed to identify the main barriers veterans face in accessing resources and services, and to develop a pocket guide to improve access to services and care.

“Our main goal is to be a bridge,” said Faye Baldwin, Chief Operations Officer for VetLinx. “There are thousands of programs and institutions that help vets, yet there are more vets that are dropped through the cracks because each institution does something different. 

“Vets can call an 800 number, sometimes with desperate needs, and get turned away for missing documentation. We can help them find the missing information and get them what they need.”    

Always looking to help veterans 

In one of many examples where VetLinx stepped in to help, a 36-year-old veteran with a family including one developmentally challenged child was fired from his job for missing work due to a doctor’s appointment. VetLinx provided financial aid to help the veteran through this trying time. 

VetLinx provides services in the community with a registered nurse and an accredited veteran service officer who teaches veterans, family members and others in the community how to access veteran resources, VA benefits, health risks based on an era of service and much more.

Every year VetLinx representatives march in the Nashville Veterans Day Parade. This year they also hosted a pre-parade breakfast, sponsored by 4Patriots.

The organization, which is funded through corporate sponsorships and aided by the fundraising efforts of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, hopes to host a military ball and silent auction in 2023.

VetFest draws a big crowd 

Vetfest is a family-friendly event featuring entertainment for all ages, music, military history, food and resources including medical and community outreach. The recent 5th annual event celebrated military family service and veteran-owned businesses, and offered resources.

Funded by businesses and donations via sponsorships – and helped by the National Guard – it featured onsite resources for benefits, housing, medical, education, employment, food and mental health. Recognition ceremonies included Quilts of Valor, Missing Man Ceremony and a Flag Folding ceremony, including the meaning behind each fold. 

There were also military displays and art and activities tents featuring card games, art projects, yard games, and a Branch of Service war game. The Kid Zone featured prizes, activities, yard games and face painting. 

There was also a Time Machine Landing Zone in which community members were encouraged to adopt an era of service and make a display or dress in military clothing from the era they were representing. The Heroes Stroll included young Marines in a color guard forming an arch for veterans to go through.

“The veterans love that the Heroes Stroll is short and that they can do it in a wheelchair,” Faye said. “This year a vintage Harley Davidson motorcycle with an American flag led the Stroll. Local musicians donate their time and talents, with the same musicians coming back each year.

“In addition to the color guard, we played the National Anthem, had a prayer and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. We also honored VetFest volunteers who had passed away in the last year and presented a Quilt of Valor to Renee Wall.”  

4Patriots participates in event 

4Patriots hosted an exhibit space at VetFest at Granny White Park in Brentwood, Tennessee in October. 

Attendees tasted our Emergency Food Bars, tested our Patriot Power Sidekick and learned about survival food offerings. 

“I can’t thank you enough,” Faye told us. “What you have done to support us and our veterans is wonderful. The monetary donation was a wonderful surprise. 

“I am lost for the appropriate words to tell you just how much that helps us support our veterans in need. It’s like Christmas for these veterans.”

To learn more about VetLinx and how they help veterans, visit www.vetlinx.org. 

As we’ve mentioned many times before, the type of donations we are able to make to worthy organizations such as VetLinx are only possible because of your purchases of 4Patriots products. Thank you for helping us help them.