‘Stand Down’ event sees 8 years of serving veterans
BUTLER TWP — Butler County Stand Down held it’s eighth annual event serving local veterans Friday, Nov. 3, at American Legion Post 778.
Organizer Roy Remone said the idea for Stand Down events was born in Los Angeles in 1972, taking its name from a phrase used during the Vietnam War.
“Whenever you were able to come out of the battlefield, come back to home base, get your mail, get a clean shower, clean clothes, that’s what the Stand Down is actually designed after,” Remone said.
Organizer Allyson Rose said Butler County Veterans Services helped organize the county’s first event in 2015.
“The purpose is to connect veterans and their families to supports and services, so we have service agencies here, and we offer a free meal, we have free haircuts, we offer flu shots,” she said. “We try to mimic that Stand Down in the battlefield in the community.”
Rose said 53 vendors were present at Friday’s event — serving the growing crowd of hundreds of local veterans.
“Each year it has grown,” she said. “We’ve served, over eight years, about a thousand veterans, and we receive a lot of support from our community and nonprofit agencies.”
Angela Fleeger, store manager for the Butler Walmart, said the location alone “donated $20,000 in hats, gloves, coats, socks and boots.”
“$15,000 of it is from our corporate foundation and $5,000 of it is a store-level grant in partnership with the Butler County Veterans In Need,” Fleeger said. “We kind of partner together, pool all our supplies together, and are able to donate a little bit more every year.”
Rose said the organizers anticipated a turnout of at least 200 veterans this year.
“Butler County as a community always works together in times of need and support for our community in general, but especially veterans,” she said. “It’s wonderful to see the extra turnout and the camaraderie that the veterans have when they’re here together.”
Volunteer Timothy Moreino, a veteran of the Vietnam War, said he had been working with the event for the last six years.
“Before volunteering, I was a consumer,” he said.
Helping hand out donations Friday, Moreino said he initially discovered the event through a pamphlet, eventually joining the program’s committee “just to give back to fellow veterans.”
“Being a veteran and utilizing the services in the county along with this: It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said.
As a Vietnam-era veteran, Moreino said, the program gave him hope that future generations of veterans would be treated with care and respect.
“I feel really proud to be a part of this, because it has helped,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of veterans come out of a homelessness state, or whatever other states they’re in, because of services they offer here.”
Moreino said the event offers haircuts, toiletries and clothing — all free of charge — that some veterans may not have had access to otherwise.
“A lot of veterans in this area are still homeless, and a lot of these things are what help them,” he said. “It helped me when I didn’t have enough.”
Moreino encouraged veterans in need of assistance to take advantage of the Stand Down program as well as the many services available in the county.
“If you’re in need of any type of services — any community services, any type of personal services, or whatever the VA has to offer — you can get all that information at a Stand Down,” he said. “If you need clothing, if you need food, if you need clothing, if you need housing information, you can get all of that at the Stand Down.
“It’s all free, so come on down and join us.”
