Where do military veterans turn for help for very specialized needs?
And how do they know they’re getting all the federal benefits due to them, or if they’re taking advantage of some of the finer benefits provided mainly by local or national nonprofit organizations.
Here are profiles of three organizations with ties to the Chandler area that some veterans might not be aware of.
Vet Tix
When Steve Weintraub’s organization arranges for tickets for veterans to attend an event, he knows he’s not solving any major crises in their lives.
But that seems to be how some veterans organizations operate: helping with small parts of life, to make things a little more manageable.
Weintraub is the chief strategy officer for the Veteran Tickets Foundation, sometimes known as Vet Tix. That’s Tempe-based national nonprofit organization that helps get donated or purchases tickets to sporting events and various entertainment for many parts of the military community.
He said Chandler veterans and those around the Valley, Arizona and across the U.S. don’t know about some veterans’ help organizations because some nonprofits can’t afford to advertise on a large scale, which wouldn’t be good optics for a nonprofit anyway.
“We spread the message about our mission, mostly through word-of-mouth and personal outreach,” Weintraub said. “But that’s OK, because we’d rather just keep doing one or a few things really, really well.”
Vet Tix is an organization that really tries to specialize. Since 2008, its founders have tried to focus just on getting tickets for veterans and their guests to see events.
“We really try to avoid ‘scope creep,’ beyond tickets,” in terms of getting into other types of veterans services,” Weintraub said. “Some organizations are what we call a mile wide and an inch deep, trying to provide a wide array of wrap-around services, but it’s tough to remain good at your core mission when that happens.”
Weintraub said monetary donations allow Vet Tix to make its own purchases of tickets, and the nonprofit is its own fourth-biggest client in that way, as there’s no predictable pattern to when or how many tickets will be donated by pro sports teams or entertainment promoters or venues.
Weintraub said the Suns, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Rising, Rattlers and Cactus League spring-training baseball teams often donate tickets to Vet Tix, as do traveling performing arts groups like the Trans Siberian Orchestra and Ticketmaster itself.
Weintraub, who is a member of the Jewish War Veterans Post 619 in the Chandler area, said tickets are an appreciation gesture for veterans that avoid stereotypes about what vets and their families traditionally enjoy. So not only are there all types of sports and concert tickets, but also a plethora of other events that are as diverse as the U.S. military itself.
“Seasonal things are, like the Nutcracker, are things vets take kids or grandkids to,” Weintraub said. “And drag shows and drag brunches are among the most-popular events, with lots of requests for tickets.”
Vet Tix’s website states the organization also has had partnerships with organizations and people like Adidas and race car driver Kurt Busch.
Learn more at vettix.org.
Veterans Affinity
Rick Kreiberg said in his 35 years in the U.S. Army, in which he rose to the rank of command sergeant major, he learned that units were assembled and deployed to solve problems.
That’s why the Mesa resident said the Veterans Affinity organization he started in 2018 is about empathy and listening, but it’s mostly about the action of ensuring military veterans get all the government benefits they were promised or were appropriated.
“Less ‘hooah’ and more ‘do-ah’,” Kreiberg said, referring to action over rhetoric. He said getting veterans to move past the obstacles in their lives — especially trauma and/or post-traumatic stress from combat or other military services — and signing up for all applicable benefits programs are the organization’s goals.
“My initial focus was on Vietnam(-era) vets, because so many of them served during combat operations years, and many never signed up with the (Veterans Administration),” Kreiberg said. “I tell them to not go off of what they heard from others and get signed up, and then help me get other vets to do the same.”
The Veterans Affinity website states the organization focuses mainly on housing and healthcare, with an emphasis on helping the age-65-and-older vets population, along with other federal benefits.
Kreiberg said there are many programs and organizations that target or are limited to post-2001 veterans. But the experience of the Vietnam era was so different, especially sociologically, that it makes things complicated.
“One of the first things we have to let the Vietnam guys know is that the country doesn’t see them as the a-holes it did back in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” Kreiberg said. “We let them know is that we accept medals with smiles, we wear the ball cap from their era of service with honor, and we go out and talk to other vets and make sure they’re applying for all that they’re owed.”
Kreiberg said there are other important distinctions between Vietnam-era veterans and other age and service-time groups. For one, virtually all military who’ve served since the start of Operation Desert Shield are eligible for having served while some type of active U.S. combat operations have been going on, even without a Congressional declaration of war.
Much like the Vietnam era of 1964-75, the “Persian Gulf War” started with Aug. 2, 1990 deployments and is considered ongoing, so veterans who joined after that date are considered to have served during a combat era, making them eligible for certain benefits, Kreiberg said. Those who served between about 1976 and 1990 aren’t as fortunate.
“That’s a gap that us and others must address,” Kreiberg said. “And a lot of them are among the ‘ghosts’ who never signed up for V.A. benefits.”
Kreiberg said while the main focus is on getting benefits, pride and recognition are essential to Veterans Infinity.
“We visit guys in assisted living facilities and veterans hospitals,” Kreiberg said. “Now and then, we end up finding out that guys, who might be separated from their families, those families never even knew that their ‘Uncle Jack’ was awarded medals and made great sacrifices for their country.”
Learn more at veteransaffinity.org.
Jewish War Veterans Copper State Post 619
Based in the Sun Lakes unincorporated area southwest of Chandler, the Jewish War Veterans Post 619 is a service organization which provides a few direct benefits to local veterans.
But the vast majority of its work is devoted to supporting existing, specialized Arizona facilities and programs that help veterans.
The post hosts gatherings that build relationships and reduce isolation among veterans and supporters, its website states. Some of these events are informational and are about vets’ programs around the Valley.
The post also raises funds and partners with other vets organizations to deliver needed support for veterans and their families, it states. The post’s “poppy” campaign is a cash and electronic payment drive, with funds supporting several organizations.
In a news release last November, the post held its first “poppy” campaign in which local shoppers who don’t carry cash were able to donate to help homeless, hospitalized and at-risk veterans by using a digital payment network.
“The post took in $500 via the Zelle system,” the release stated.
The post’s teams refurbish veterans facilities to improve comfort, dignity, and quality of care, its website states.
The post has received several awards and recognitions for its efforts. In 2023, the post was recognized for donating a six-passenger golf cart to the Veterans Hospital Southeast Clinic in Gilbert.
Learn more at jwvpost619.org.
Jason W. Brooks can be reached at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
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