Santa Barbara Veterans Foundation will hold its 5th Annual Salute to the Vets, noon-5 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Santa Barbara Carriage Museum, 129 Castillo St., where the Veterans Day Parade will conclude.
The event will feature military displays, live music by the Steve McPeters Band and Phantoms, performance by La Bohemme, barbecue lunch, and an old-fashioned military pin-up girl contest.
There will be prizes, a kids corner, vendors and a special vendor section to meet local veterans organizations. Around 1 p.m., paratroopers will drop down on Cabrillo Boulevard.
Salute to the Vets is the Santa Barbara Veterans Foundation’s largest fundraiser of the year. All proceeds go directly to support local veterans and groups that support local veterans.
Some of these organizations operate under the radar and go unnoticed, such as:
» Organic Soup Kitchen, which provides a veterans breakfast every week.
» Disabled American Veterans local chapter, which provide rides and support to local veterans. Funds keep their van up and running and insured.
» Town & Country Women’s Club, which sponsors Bring a Vet to Lunch at the Elks Lodge #613.
» Devon from Hearts Therapeutic Equestrian Center. Funds of this donation go to the program that help vets transition back into society when they are discharged from the service. The program helps vets train for and reach goals.
» Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation.
The Santa Barbara Veterans Foundation has donated thousands of dollars to local veteran organizations or organizations that help local veterans in some way.
The SBVF mission is to keep all money local. No salaries are taken. The group wants to help make a difference, no matter how small, in its own backyard.
SBVF has received widespread community support including from the Chumash, Bunnin Chevrolet, Santa Barbara Airbus, and Nissan. SBVF thanks the support it has received from Noozhawk.
Locals helping locals is what makes the difference, the SBVF believes.
There’s a $5 donation and/or for $20 you will get entry as well as an arm-length of raffle tickets and lunch.
— Henry Schulte for Santa Barbara Veterans Foundation.