The Veteran Event Center was started by a group of veterans sponsored by the officers and membership of American Legion Post 125 and The Ozark Veterans Coalition. It began a few years ago as a joint operation with The Veteran Resell Store located in the same building.
Our concept was to use about 3,000 sf for the resell store and over 3,000 sf for the Event Center, both being at the same location. The resell store would get donations of household items from people wanting to assist veterans, they would then prepare them and sell them for discounted pricing to the public. After expenses were covered, we would have money for veterans’ projects.
We then took the additional space and created the Veteran Event Center. It was fixed up to accommodate venues such as birthday parties, anniversaries, reunions, training sessions, concerts and auctions. We have a liquor license and a fantastic AV system. All events have access to our Internet broadband Wi-Fi with fiber optic connection. All additional revenue created by both entities after expenses goes into projects for veterans and first responders, such as building ramps for disabled veterans, helping veterans that need help with temporary funds, both through our sponsors and with the help of our Veteran Service Officers. This all is done to help our local veterans since we are not affiliated with out of the area groups using our name.
We are a 501c(3) not for profit group and are almost entirely operated by volunteers. We are governed by a board of directors made up of volunteer veterans. We live by the “Veterans helping Veterans” motto.