Lone Oak launched a brand new program, Lone Oak Horses & Heroes! Pennsylvania's veterans face a serious crisis. The Military Veteran Project indicates that one veteran takes their own life every 65 minutes. Census data show us there are more than 840,000 veterans in PA and most live in rural counties and communities.
This program was created specifically to serve veterans, current service members, and their families. Lone Oak has always wanted to have programming for veterans, and we were able to follow through with help from Lone Oak team member, Brandon Morrow (right) and service member Nick Davis (below). Both are dedicated to helping other service members and veterans like themselves.
Brandon is a veteran of the Air Force and served for 8 years. Nick now serves in the National Guard. Both Nick and Brandon are students at Millersville University. Nick also works at the Millersville University Veterans Resource Center (VRC).
The VRC is also our first branch of the Lone Oak Horses & Heroes program.
The purpose of the Veterans Resource Center is to provide information to veterans and eligible dependents about their benefits, assist them when applying for benefits and to offer a location for them to relax between classes and engage with other veteran students. The center also looks to educate the campus community about student veterans. The goal is to engage and appreciate veterans and their families through programs and recognition events.
Lone Oak Horses & Heroes held the inaugural event on Friday, November 12, 2021 at Our Happy Place Equestrian Center. This event was in partnership with the VRC. Current service members, veterans, and their families were in attendance to meet the horses, Lone Oak staff, and each other!
Our hope is that this is the first of many events that will occur for the Lone Oak Horses & Heroes program. We hope to add groups and individual sessions. Lone Oak's next step is to secure funding to support this initiative!
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