The Veterans Breakfast Club is about to hold an event that not only covers breakfast, but extends to lunch, dinner, dessert and midnight snacks–regardless of the time zone.
“Vet-A-Thon” is a 24-hour livestream event taking place on Veterans Day, November 11, beginning at 12:00 AM ET and running until 11:59 PM ET. It will feature constant stories, tributes, recognitions, and discussions about the military. Veterans and supporters of veterans will be involved and are encouraged to attend or participate if they haven’t already done so.
Todd DePastino is the executive director of the Veterans Breakfast Club, and he joined Matt Drzik on A.M. Beaver County to talk about the “Vet-A-Thon”. DePastino said the idea started as a 12-hour event that was to be held to allow veterans of wars from World War II all the way to Iraq and Afghanistan to share their experience not just in the field of combat, but their stories of bonding with fellow members within their branches or regimens and living their lives in subcultures that are unique to the military.
DePastino himself is not a veteran, but his pursuit of preserving history among those who have served has taken an operation that originated “in his attic” and has connected the veterans of Western Pennsylvania to veterans throughout the United States, reaching coastal areas such as California and Southern Florida. He said that the necessity for digital gathering due to the events of 2020 has led to a greater outreach that not only have made the “Vet-A-Thon” possible, but could create the possibility of VBC events to take place outside the parameters of Western Pennsylvania.
Despite the recent success created digitally, though, the VBC is glad to have live gatherings once again as well. One such gathering is set to take place at Seven Oaks Country Club in Beaver taking place on November 20 beginning at 8:30 AM. For more details about that, “Vet-A-Thon”, and all other events and info, you can visit their website at veteransbreakfastclub.org.
To hear the full interview with Todd and Matt, click on the player below.