Veterans Matter holding virtual walk on Veterans Day

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - Veterans Day is Wednesday November 11th and a number of northwest Ohio area organizations are collaborating to make it a memorable one even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. One such group, Veterans Matters, has created a mile-long virtual walk. It will be live streamed on facebook and along the way veterans groups will explain their role in finding homes for veterans.

The walk will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Veterans Services Commission and will end at the Commons at Garden Lake – a building that houses 75 local veterans, including George Lewis, “For a while like after Vietnam when you came back they wanted to throw stones and everything else at you. Now they treat a veteran with respect and that’s real satisfying.”

Veterans Matters has helped 4,000 veterans secure housing and Ken Leslie, the organization’s leader says every $750 houses another veteran.

Money raised is not a hand out but a hand up in the eyes of Veterans Service Groups. They emphasize there’s no shame in a veteran asking for help and through the types of efforts like this one – since 2011 – there’s been a steady decline in the number of homeless veterans.

If you’d like to donate head to veteransmatter.org for more information.

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