Back in 2022, members of the Hattiesburg Disabled American Veterans Chapter No. 62 began working to put together a master list of all the organizations that could help veterans in the Hub City with issues like homelessness, food insecurity and mental health.
In doing so, they eventually settled on the idea of VetFest, which will be held for the third year from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. May 18 at Town Square Park, at the intersection of Main and Buschman streets in downtown Hattiesburg. The event will feature live music, food vendors, and most importantly, businesses that can help veterans with information and other types of aid.
“This gives us an opportunity for our veterans and the community to come out and see what veteran-owned businesses are in our area, but more specifically, the veteran service providers,” said Lt. Col. (Ret.) Frederick Varnado, who serves as commander of Hattiesburg DAV Chapter No. 62. “Our veterans sometimes don’t know that there are resources out there – they do not know that (there are services) even here in Hattiesburg.
“There are folks that are driving to Jackson and driving to the Coast, but there’s a VA medical clinic right here at Merit Health Wesley. So when they come to the VetFest, they have an opportunity to learn that.”
The expo-style event will allow veteran owned-businesses to meet with each other and expand their brand, showcasing their products and services to the community. Veteran service providers also will share information on impacting the daily lives of veterans and their families.
“The veterans can come through and see what resources are available for them, and the community can see what resources are available for benefits,” Varnado said. “We’re going to have the Jackson (Veterans Affairs office) mobile clinic down this year, and they’ll be able to do some welfare checks for our veterans.
“That way, they’ll know the VA is here to meet their needs and try to find out how we can best support them – both the veterans and the veterans’ families. And it’s a sense of community, where veterans can share stories and also learn from each other, in terms of they may have a particular health issue or financial issue. So we’ll have resources there that can help them, from a homeless perspective or a food insecurity perspective, or a mental health perspective.”
The event is family-friendly, free and open to the public, and also will offer kids’ play areas, musical entertainment and special giveaways.
“We’ve got ‘bouncies’ for the kids, some musical entertainment, some raffle items that we’re going to be raffling off,” Varnado said.
The first VetFest featured two food vendors and approximately 10 veteran service providers. Last year, that number increased to six food vendors, along with 35 providers.
“(The growth of the event) is exciting, because the word is getting out to people,” Varnado said. “The main thing is for them to talk to each other, and for us share with them what we have, and that they can come to us for assistance and advice and recommendations.
“Non-veterans can come out and learn what resources are there for their family – or it could be neighbors or church members or whoever they may be. We just want to spread the word that the DAV here in Hattiesburg is making a difference.”
