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Veterans receive free meals at Warrenville park event

Aiken Standard - 9/11/2021

Sep. 11—Local area veterans were given a free meal and a chance to socialize on Saturday afternoon at a local veteran's park, while hearing the word of God.

The event was hosted at Horse Creek Midland Valley Veterans Park, and was sponsored by Ekklesia Outreach Ministries. The purpose was to thank veterans and active-duty military service members, with many passersby honking and waving as they drove past the park.

There were plenty of hot dogs and chips for everyone to have as many servings as they wanted. Various pieces of Christian literature were also handed out with each meal.

Andrew Virella helped organize the event and said it's something he'd been thinking about for a few months to honor those who served or gave the ultimate sacrifice.

"In this day and age, we've forgotten our veterans," Virella said. "If it wasn't for (them), we wouldn't be free right now."

Virella said it was an honor for him to help put the event together because it allowed him to give something back to those who gave us freedom.

"We enjoy our freedoms here, but we fought for our freedom," Virella said. "That's not something we fell into. We didn't inherit this."

Jerome Harris, an Army veteran, was at the event and said, "it's important to recognize the service members that lost their lives as well as their family members who are still living just to show our support and gratitude for what they gave to our nation.

"As a veteran and also as a Christian man, I think it's our duty to show the love of Christ to the community at large," Harris said.

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