Sedalia VFW Post 2591 is seeking veterans and their spouses to participate in a job fair scheduled for Feb. 14.

Post Commander Gary Gill said the event, held in conjunction with the Sedalia Career Center, is open to current or honorably discharged veterans or their spouses with a focus on those who served in the War on Terrorism.

Gill said organizers are expecting at least 20 employers to participate in the fair, and job seekers may register any time leading up to the event at the post, at 121 S. Ohio Avenue. Current service members should bring military identification and service records; discharged veterans need to provide a copy of their DD-214. Spouses should bring a copy of their military identification.

“The primary reason we are doing this is it is a tough economy for young people, especially returning veterans to get started. We want to help them do that ... we want to be an advocate for them,” Gill said.

He credited the idea for the job fair to Greg Bird, the post’s junior vice commander, who pitched the idea at an all-post meeting. Bird, a Marine, served one tour in Afghanistan and two tours in Iraq.

“He brought it up and we thought about it for a while,” Gill said. “And we just thought ‘Man, that is what we should be doing.’ ”

He said the post hopes to make the fair an annual event as part of its outreach to younger veterans.
 
Gill and VFW organizers are focusing on registering job seekers, while the work of finding interested companies to participate in the fair is being done by Terry Beas, a veterans employment representative with the Sedalia Career Center.

Gill encouraged companies that have worked with the VFW in the past to consider participating. He also said veterans with questions or who want to register may attend one of the post’s regular veterans service days, where people are able to file service-related disability claims and receive assistance on other benefits and service issues.

The post’s next service day runs from 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 21 at the post hall.

For more information, contact Gill at 826-4543, or Beas at 530-5627.

- Dennis Rich, Sedalia Democrat