1. SAN LEANDRO VRC SAN LEANDRO PUBLIC LIBRARY

2. LET THE COMMUNITY KNOW YOU’RE THERE

3. Make contact with your CVSO (County Veterans Service Officer). Contact agencies who work with Veterans and Veterans groups in your community (ex: local veteran posts). Publicize in newspapers, your website, Facebook, local newsletters, homeowners associations, farmer’s markets, local senior centers, community events, etc. Partner with the local Chamber of Commerce. Handout business cards all over town.

4. PROGRAMMING FOR YOUR VRC Keep your eyes open for opportunities that will interest the veteran community. Brainstorm ways to get out into the community and bring the community in. Meet and Greets at local senior facilities and residential facilities Contact local businesses to do pop-up VRCs (Farmer’s Market, Breweries, events, festivals) Host eBenefits enrollment class at VRC Present panel discussion consisting of businesses and organizations that assist veterans (loans, employment,) Connect veterans to local businesses and organizations that offer veterans services and discounts (yoga classes, writing groups, April Showers)

5. OFFER CLASSES

6. BRAND YOUR MATERIALS

7. VARY THE ACTIVITIES

8. Musical Presentations (use your local Veterans groups such as Strumming for Vets). Local museums - find out what they have to offer. You might be surprised. Inter-generational activities (appreciation events such as an ice cream social with music). Documentaries and feature films (Veterans Connect @ the Library has a good list). Local veteran writing group participants to do readings and open mic events. Inter-active activities (prompt cards for visitors to write their reactions and display responses.

9. FIELD TRIP OPPORTUNITIES ARE EVERYWHERE

10. NO BUDGET? NO PROBLEM! (INTERACTIVE – IT’S ALMOST FREE)

13. STAYING CONNECTED AND KEEPING THINGS INTERESTING Be sure to encourage participants to share their own interesting finds and ideas with you and share these via your email reminders for others. Use any and all of your mailing lists to include as many people as you can. Have visitors sign-in at events and constantly be adding to your lists. Send reminders for each event and include at least one link to something interesting (such as similar projects like War Ink, interviews, book titles, stories, YouTube videos, movie titles).

14. VOLUNTEER CARE Formal training and ongoing support Monthly meetings with discussion time for sharing experiences Sharing of resources Communication and scheduling through a Google calendar Listen, listen, listen Foods always helps

15. LESSONS LEARNED (EVERYTHING IS A LESSON LEARNED) A knowledgeable, quality moderator is essential to a worth while panel discussion experience. The more removed the speaker is from the topic the less powerful they are. Publicize, publicize, publicize. Find out which of your PR avenues works best for your community – ask your participants how they found out about events.