The Student Veterans Organization (SVO) is holding a tailgate barbecue Saturday at 2 p.m. in honor of Veterans Day weekend.
The tailgate will take place in Parking Lot 5 next to Shepard Stadium before Pierce’s 7 p.m. homecoming game against their cross-town rivals, Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC).
The student veteran organizations of LAVC and California State University (Cal State) Northridge will also be participating at the event, as well as veterans from Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and The American Legion, according to SVO Vice President Kort Huettinger, who served as a member of the Coast Guard.
“The idea is to have the team go up there and have lunch with the veterans at the tailgate and be able to show their appreciation,” said Huettinger.
Huettinger, who is also the football team’s defensive line coach, said that this will be the football team’s first home game of the season due to complications concerning construction contractors and the college.
“It’s a rivalry game. We’ve held the [victory] bell for the last two years and we want to keep it,” said Huettinger. “Valley’s going to be a good opponent as usual, just as they have been for the past 50 years.”
The Veteran’s Association (VA) is providing the grills and the propane in support of the event, with SVO President Christopher Sorbello encouraging participants to bring meat for the tailgate.
The VA is also bringing a Mobile Vet Center that will be providing veterans with free health screenings.
In addition to bringing meat, Sorbello asks that participants wear red to show support for troops and the football team.
“We want people to wear red because it’s our school’s color,” said Sorbello. “If everyone could wear red it would be a huge, huge help. The more the merrier.”
Sorbello, who served in the Army including three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, said that wearing red is to signify the remembrance of our troops, mentioning that every Friday is Freedom Friday and that students should wear red in support then as well.
In an interview for KPCRadio.com Sorbello explains that people can also show support by putting together care packages for our soldiers overseas.
For information on how to send care packages to the U.S. military visit www.operationgratitude.com.
Listen to the interview with Christopher Sorbello at KPCRadio.com.
“We need support from the students, as much as possible,” said Sorbello.
