Sep. 19—PRINCETON — An event honoring veterans and their families by serving breakfast and providing surplus property to them is coming back to Mercer County on Nov. 4.

The 2023 Community Veterans Breakfast and Stand Down will begin 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4 at the Princeton Lifeline Church of God off Oakvale Road near Princeton.

In 2020, the Veterans Breakfast and Stand Down had to be canceled due to COVID-19 precautions. It was held in 2021 with a new format in which veterans and their families remained their vehicles while volunteers gave them donated items.

Omar Aboulhousn, one of the event's organizers, said this year's Community Veterans Breakfast and Stand Down will go back to the pre-pandemic program.

"The big difference this year is that we're going back to the pre-pandemic schedule, which means we will have a very short program at 9 a.m.," he said. "We'll have breakfast starting about 9:30 a.m. and that, for the veterans and their families, is free of charge."

The stand down's distribution will begin about 10:30 a.m. that day.

"We'll do it on the side of the building," Aboulhosn said. "The difference is that we'll have the veterans drive through the distribution area and have people who put stuff into their cars. We've done this every year for about seven or eight years. It's just our way to showing our appreciation to veterans and their families. When they get deployed, their families have the burden of that deployment as well."

Local volunteers and organizations such as the Vietnam Veterans Auxiliary and members of the Concord University basketball team will be helping along with LPN students from the Mercer County Technical Education Center, local Boy Scouts, and Rotary Clubs from Princeton and Bluefield, Aboulhosn said.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com