Vets Hall Holiday Dinner Announcement

Contact: Timothy McCormick
VFW Post 5888
PO Box 664
Santa Cruz, CA 95061
http://www.vetshall.org

VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS "BILL MOTTO" POST 5888 PRESS RELEASE

VFW Post announces Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinners canceled.

Closure of Veterans Memorial Building by County impacts popular holiday meals.

Santa Cruz, October 14, 2010: Veterans of Foreign Wars "Bill Motto" Post 5888 today announced that it is unable to hold Thanksgiving or Christmas Dinners, this year, at the Santa Cruz County Veterans Memorial Building.

Speaking for the Post, the Holiday Meals Committee Chairman, Bob Young, said, "We the Bill Motto Post of the VFW regret to announce that our Holiday Dinners, which usually take place on Thanksgiving day, and Christmas day each year for 24 years at the Santa Cruz Veterans Memorial Building will not be held this year . This event has helped the needy people, veterans, seniors, students and lonely residents during holidays which are based in giving..

The Veterans Memorial Building has served as the focal point, and more importantly, the infrastructure of the Holiday Dinners each year. Volunteers and donors of food alike, all know to show up at the Vet's building, and it takes a week or more of logistical juggling of space and time to prepare and then clean up for each dinner. Planning for the meals takes several months.

The County of Santa Cruz, unfortunately, has closed the Veterans Memorial Building to both the veterans, and the general public. This closure has been in place since January 2010. The County of Santa Cruz has not given a definite time line for repair and re-opening of the Veterans Memorial Building and its facilities.

The County closed the building, alleging it is unsafe, a situation which has prompted the United Veterans Council – of which VFW Post 5888 is a part – to bring suit against the County in Superior Court, jury trial is scheduled to commence November 15th. The eviction, and lack of offers by the County for substitute facilities, resulted in a regrettable decline of in services for veterans and the community at large. At the last Post meeting, October 6, the decision was made that the Post is unable to hold the Holiday Dinners, this year.

The media is encouraged to make inquiries to the SC County Board of Supervisors, and the pertinent county departments as to their time line for repairs. We are hopeful that the Vet's Memorial Building will be repaired and re-open in time for the 2011 Holiday Dinners.

The Bill Motto VFW Post 5888 thanks all the volunteers and donors that have made the Holiday Dinners a success over the past two decades. We hope to see you again by Thanksgiving in 2011. The Bill Motto VFW post is currently holding it's meetings at the Louden Nelson Center on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 PM. The public is welcome to speak as guests at the first 20 minutes of the meetings."