Event aims to help area vets get info on benefits

More than 16 service, employment, medical and educational organizations, along with private businesses, will take part in the 22nd annual Veterans Information Fair from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Elks Lodge 2772.

The free fair, organized and hosted by Texarkana Area Chapter 278 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, takes place at the lodge, at 3702 New Boston Road. The event is being held to help military veterans, both past and present, get information on available benefits, programs and other assistance for them and their families.

The organizations slated to be at the fair include the Texarkana Veterans Outpatient Clinic, Texas Veterans Commission, Texas Workforce Commission, Arkansas Workforce Commission, the Veterans Administration Medical Centers in both Shreveport, La., and Little Rock, the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration. They will be there to help veterans with answers and help in securing medical and educational benefits and employment services.

Other organizations include Hospice of Texarkana, the Red Cross, Lone Star Legal Aid, veterans’ education counselors from Texarkana College and Texas A&M UniversityTexarkana, the Area Agency for the Aging from Texas and Arkansas, Dierksen Hospice, East Funeral Home, Red River Federal Credit Union and Home Depot. Veterans Service offices will also be available to help.

All veterans, both active and retired, as well as those in the reserves and in the National Guard and their immediate family members, are urged to attend.

For more information, call 870-773-8279, 903-556-1613, 903-824-2727 or 903-6287216.