Meridian veterans celebrated Saturday evening as the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 12124 held a grand opening of its new home on Eighth Avenue with live music and fun, marking the end of wandering for the nomadic VFW Post that began more than 12 years ago.

 

Founded in 2012, Post 12124 has moved from location to location with previous homes in veterans’ basements, churches and volunteered spaces. Despite being one of the newest posts around, it has become one of the biggest with membership around 200.

 

Joe Yoskovich, a member of Post 12124, said the post bought its new home on the corner of Eighth Avenue and 16th Street in August of last year. A former electrical supply business, post members began working on the building in October to turn it into the VFW’s headquarters.

 

While there is still much work to be done, he said, having a place to base its efforts out of will give the post a big boost as it works to give back to the community.

 

“Our whole purpose is we’re not charity. We’re trying to give back to the community, but until we have a foothold on it ourselves we’ve been kind of paycheck to paycheck, if you will,” he said.

 

Having a location to call its own not only helps solidify the post, Yoskovich said, but it also opens the door for fundraising events, live music and other activities that can help the post in its efforts to give back.

 

Post member Lonnie Daughenbaugh said helping in the community is one of the key components of the VFW. While not every veteran served in the same areas, saw the same situations or experienced the same things, members of post 12124 are united in their shared desire to continue to serve, he said.

 

“We all put on a hat. Some of us did 20, some did four, but if they have the drive to still want to give back the way that was given to us, that’s what these organizations are about,” he said.

As one of the newer posts in the state, Post 12124 also has expenses its older sister posts have long since paid off, such as a mortgage, Daughenbaugh said, and there is still much work to be done on the post’s new headquarters. The post is actively searching for grants, working with local businesses for support and planning fundraisers to ensure the resource for both veterans and the community will continue to prosper.

 

Samuel Jennings, a member of the VFW Post 12124 Auxiliary, said it’s all about helping the military veterans in the community, connecting them with resources, supporting them and giving them a place to be around likeminded people. Auxiliary members, who are the children, grandchildren or spouses of veterans, help support the post and its veterans as well.

 

Jennings said he joined the Auxiliary because of his grandfather, Mark Schroeder, was a Vietnam War veteran, who joined the VFW at the same time.

 

“He’s my hero,” he said.

 

Danny Smith, who serves as quartermaster of Post 12124, said the Auxiliary is the “right arm” of the post and is a critical part of helping the organization fulfill its goals. Although often thought of as an organization exclusive to veterans, the VFW has a number of programs for students and other nonmilitary people as well, he said.

 

The Voice of Democracy and the Patriot’s Pen are annual scholarship contests students can enter through their local VFW, Smith said. The national winner of the Voice of Democracy contest, open to students in ninth through 12 grades, receives a scholarship for $35,000.

 

As Post 12124 gets settled into its new home, plans are already underway for live music and other events to help raise funds, and all are invited to help raise money to support the VFW and its work in the community.

 

VFW Post 12124 is in a district that includes six posts with a total district membership of approximately 560, Daughenbaugh said, but there are far more than 560 veterans in the district. For some veterans, the VFW may not be the place for them, he said, but there are multiple veterans organizations in the community, and it’s worth getting involved.

 

“It doesn’t have to be a VFW. There’s American Legion, there’s DAV, there’s the Wounded Warrior Project, there’s the East Mississippi Veterans Association, any and all of those are all active,” he said. “We all try to work together, and we just want to see more vets that need the camaraderie, the companionship, the brotherhood, whatever you want to call it. Find us so we can help them along.”