March 28, 2024

VA board discusses potential veterans outreach event

The Jasper County Veterans Affairs board discussed the potential for a veterans outreach event at its regular monthly meeting Wednesday.

The event itself, which was presented by commissioner Jerry Nelson, and has the acronym RECON which stands for Refreshments, Education, Contacts, Opportunities and Navigate. This would be designed to educate veterans on the resources available to them and how to navigate the VA.

“That way you have got kind of a one-stop shop they get all this information,” Nelson said.

Director of Jasper County Veterans Affairs Kurt Jackson added, “I can definitely bring in help from the State of Iowa.”

Navigating life after military service can be difficult when there is a wealth of benefits available to veterans they may not know about. Events like this are designed to make those veterans aware of what they can use.

“There is tons of information out there but getting it disseminated out to the veterans has always been a challenge,” Nelson said.

The event, which passed its first reading, could be tentatively scheduled for October or November, but there is still more planning to be done before anything can be finalized. The board discussed the Newton DMACC campus as a potential location for the event.

“We are still kind of working through the details of it,” Nelson said.

In other business:

• A donation from the Iowa Interstate Railroad in the amount of $300 was given too the Jasper County Affairs donation fund.

• The potential idea for a Jasper County Veterans Standown has been changed as the planning may be too much to get the event to come together. Instead it was discussed to potentially offer transport for veterans to the Standown in September in Des Moines.

The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 11 in the Jasper County Annex buildin

Contact Dustin Teays at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or dteays@newtondailynews.com