DENVER, CO — Earlier this week the Circle of Friends for American Veterans (COFAV) celebrated their successful, official event at the Democratic National Convention where they organized a Salute to American Veterans. The event, which was held in the Continental Ballroom of the Westin Tabor Center, brought attention to the Veterans Bill of Rights and featured Members of Congress and Democratic National Committee officials who spoke about greater support of American Veterans.
“On any given night, there are 250,000 homeless American veterans on our streets and the Department of Veterans Affairs only provides 10,000 beds,†said Major Brian Hampton (USAR RET), President, Circle of Friends for American Veterans. “The Veterans’ Bill of Rights calls for badly needed reforms to ensure that those who served this nation in uniform, honorably and nobly are given adequate housing and mental health care.â€
More than 200 participants attended the event. The speakers included:
Major (ret) Brian Hampton, President, Circle of Friends for American Veterans
John Parvensky, President Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
Susan Turnbull, Co-Chair of the Democratic National Committee
Representative Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1st)
Representative John M. Spratt, Jr. (SC-5th) and
Representative Susan Davis (CA-3rd)
LTC Hal Bidlack – Congressional candidate (CO-5th)
Other guests included Senator and Mrs. John Kerry of Massachusetts and
Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii.
COFAV will host a similar event at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN on Tuesday, September 2, 2008, at 4:30 p.m. in the Penthouse of the Downtown University Club, located at 340 Cedar Street, St. Paul, MN.
Guest speakers at the RNC event will include:
Academy Award Winning Actor Jon Voight
Representative Tom Davis (VA-11)
Joe Wilson (SC-2)
Ralph Hall (TX-4)
Mike Conaway (TX-11)
Mike Rogers (MI-8) and many other notables.
COFAV is a non-profit organization dedicated to American veterans and to raising awareness of the problems and solutions to veterans’ homelessness. As one of the foremost veterans’ advocacy organizations in America, the COFAV has reached over 50 million people through media coverage all over America. Since 1993, this organization has conducted 46 city rallies across the nation, allowing the leaders of our country to explain what they will do for veterans, especially homeless veterans. Additionally, the Circle of Friends has conducted over 150 forums with important decision-makers from Congress and the Department of Defense.
For further information, please visit www.vetsvision.org
