Michigan’s largest veteran event plans for sixth year

Vet Fest presented by VETLIFE draws over 3,000 veterans along with their family members.

submitted by VETLIFE

Back for its sixth year, VETLIFE is once again hosting the largest veteran event in the state of Michigan.

Vet Fest, presented by VETLIFE, draws over 3,000 veterans annually along with their immediate family members. The purpose of Vet Fest is to bring veterans together to enjoy camaraderie and connect them to the military benefits they earned through their service.

VETLIFE co-founder Joshua Parish says, “Michigan is home to almost 600,000 veterans, but less than 18% have been connected to a federal benefit. VETLIFE is doing something no other organization has successfully been able to do and that is connect veterans to their benefits at a very large scale.”

VETLIFE co-founder Cortnie Parish says, “There are so many veterans throughout this country that do not even know what benefits are out there. Many do not know where to start, which is why at VETLIFE we make it our mission to connect these veterans to vetted resources and help answer all their questions. Unlike other veteran events, we invite the veteran’s family to join them and provide everything free of charge for families. We do not allow vendors to sell and require that each exhibitor provide a direct service to veterans.”

VETLIFE is hosting Vet Fest on Saturday, August 12, 2023, from 11am to 3pm, at the Fowlerville Fairgrounds. Vet Fest is completely free for all active duty, retired, or military veteran families. Registration is required and attendees will be asked to show their military designated ID at check in.

Vet Fest is family oriented and veterans’ family members can enjoy food trucks, bounce houses, live bands, backpack and school supply giveaways, celebrity appearances, and more. Veterans will enjoy a day of camaraderie and learn about a wide variety of veteran-specific resources from over 60 different resource providers. All veterans in attendance will also be entered into drawings to win a wide variety of prizes valued from $300 to $2,000.

One spouse of a veteran that attended a previous year’s Vet Fest hosted by VETLIFE said, “I think you saved my husband’s life. He’s an Army veteran and today is the first time he’s been out of the house in three months. We enrolled him in VA healthcare services with the Ann Arbor VA today. Thank you so much.”

VETLIFE will have providers onsite to enroll veterans in healthcare, sign up for county VA services, retrieve a copy of their DD-214, learn about education benefits and alternative forms of therapy, and much more. To register for Vet Fest visit: bit.ly/vetfest23

VETLIFE’s Mission: To provide veterans with sustainable solutions while promoting a safer,
healthier, and prosperous civilian lifestyle. To make a tax-deductible donation to support VETLIFE visit: www.vetlifetoday.org/donate. Follow VETLIFE on Facebook and Instagram: @vetlifetoday

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.