The first-ever “Vets and Pets Fundraiser” will take place Saturday, in downtown Red Deer combining tattoos with charities.
Created by Cole McIntyre with Red Deer Tattoo Co., the event will be a 12-hour-long fundraiser where attendees can get fresh ink, with all proceeds going toward Next Chapter Animal Rescue and the Veterans Food Bank of Red Deer.
Allan Reid, the founder and President of the Veterans Food Bank of Alberta, says he was approached by McIntyre to be one of the charities that proceeds will go towards.
“Any fundraiser is welcomed, obviously, and it was a neat idea to mix the two, you know, because a lot of veterans have pets,” says Reid.
The Veterans Food Bank of Red Deer, a service provided as part of the Canadian Veterans Services Society (CVSS), supports all military and frontline emergency personnel regardless of whether they are retired or currently serving.
The food bank provides a one-stop shop for veterans and first responders and strives to create food security and address any systemic concerns that are affecting them.
“We specifically help out veterans and first responders, so with their careers they have always been to protect the public or serve the public and since day one, we've heard many times that they won't go to a normal food bank because they're taking food out from the people that they signed on the dotted line to protect, so they just suffer in silence,” says Reid.
The CVSS does even more for veterans than just food security.
Financial assistance, therapy, PTSD evaluation and clothing are also provided to those in need.
“Most of the guys coming back from Afghanistan are coming back with PTSD just from, you know, the situations that they had to deal with over there and then we try and help them, get them diagnosed and then, you know, in to talk to somebody, to try and alleviate some of those issues,” comments Reid.
The funds raised from the event will go toward providing urgently needed items for the food bank and other CVSS services.
“I've always seen it as like a necessity to look out for them because without them what would we have, you know, right, the world we live in now it's because of them,” says McIntyre on supporting the veterans.
The Vets and Pets Fundraiser will take place on Little Gaetz Avenue from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m., with the whole block shut down for live music, food trucks, vendors, a silent auction — and of course, tattoos.