ALTON - Local veterans and their families can enjoy a free breakfast on Veterans Day.
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The seventh annual “Breakfast for a Hero” event will run from 8–10 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, at the Best Western Premier at 3559 College Avenue in Alton. The event is free to all veterans and their immediate family members and will include a keynote speaker, a performance by the Gibson Girls and more.
“It’s just a great way to kick off their Veterans Day,” said Jim Claywell with Embark Wealth Partners, the company that organizes the event. “Really, if we think about it, every day is Veterans Day because of what they did for us. It’s a really, really cool day of events for those veterans.”
Last year’s Veterans Day breakfast welcomed over 200 veterans and their families. At this year’s event, attendees can expect a free meal and a performance by Jerseyville’s Gibson Girls, and Claywell promises there won’t be “a dry eye in the room.”
There will likely also be an open mic, so veterans can share their experiences with each other. The Alton VFW Colorguard will be present. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. and Claywell expects there to be a line out the door.
Veterans and their families are asked to RSVP by Nov. 4, 2024. You can RSVP by calling 618-433-8881 or emailing Casta.Zippmann@RaymondJames.com.
Claywell explained that the idea to create a Veterans Day breakfast came from his business partner, Terri Schneider, who wanted to host an event to honor local vets. As they talked about it, the two decided to plan the breakfast to offer a fun event for servicemembers and their loved ones.
“We were talking about, what could we do to reach out to the community, make a difference, with no real expected return but just community giving?” Claywell remembered. “Why don’t we have a breakfast honoring those heroes and their families?”
Today, the breakfast has “morphed” into a “wonderful, wonderful annual event” that honors veterans, he said. He explained that the event is also geared toward the family members of vets, who served alongside the servicemembers we honor on Veterans Day.
“We really want to emphasize the fact that it’s not just for those who have served that are veterans, but their families that stayed home and supported their veterans by taking care of their family and their children, taking care of their house and keeping things going here as they went out to fight for our country,” Claywell said. “We consider them veterans as well, the family members of veterans. We want them to come because they’re just as much veterans as those who served across the seas or even in our country.”
The event is sponsored by many local organizations, including Roberts Motors, Gent Funeral Home, First Mid Bank & Trust, the North Alton-Godfrey Business Council, Gerard Fischer American Family Insurance, Miller King Law Firm, U.S.A. Mortgage, Upper Deck Roofing and Landmark Realty.
Claywell noted that the event would not be possible without the sponsors, and those who want to help sponsor the breakfast in the future should reach out to Embark Wealth Partners at 618-433-8881 for more information.
He expressed the appreciation of Embark Wealth Partners and their sponsors for the servicemembers. He hopes the breakfast is a great way to pay homage to local veterans and their loved ones.
“If they hadn’t done what they did, we may not even be sitting here doing this,” Claywell added. “So I think it starts with just a lot of gratitude and thanking them for fighting for our country and keeping our country the way it is, so that we can do these things in our professional work and our personal lives.”
For more information about the “Breakfast for a Hero” event or to RSVP, call 618-433-8881.
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