Kennett, Missouri - Congressman Jason Smith (MO-08) and his regional staff will be coordinating and hosting a second Veterans’ Benefits Summit on April 6, 2016 in Kennett, M.O. The summit will provide veterans an opportunity to come to a single location and make contact with a number of federal, state and local departments that handle veterans’ affairs to learn about the different resources available to help our nation’s veterans.
“We are really excited to be able to hold a second Veterans’ Benefits Summit event in Kennett for those who were unable to attend our first event on Saturday in Cape Girardeau. Veteran casework accounts for about half of the entire casework load across our offices, which shows how important this is to us and a large number of people in Southeast Missouri,” said Smith.  “We have over 60,000 civilian veterans in our congressional district and so many of them are active parts of their communities and we want to do what we can to help them.”
The event will take place Wednesday, April 6th, from 2:30pm to 4:00pm at American Legion Post 66 and a number of participating offices have already been confirmed, which include:
·         Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office

·         Department of Veterans Affairs John J Pershing VA Medical Center

·         Missouri Veterans Commission Veterans Service Officers

·         Missouri Veterans Commission Cemetery Program-Bloomfield Cemetery

·         National Guard/Military Veterans and Family Support

·         Social Security Administration

·         Small Business Association

·         Southeast Missouri Food Bank

·         Veterans of Foreign Wars Veterans Service Officer

·         Southeast Missouri State University Office of Military and Veterans Services

·         Three Rivers College

·         Department of Missouri Economic Development Division of Workforce Development

·         Manpower

“Some of the most rewarding work we have done is on behalf of the veterans in our community to make sure they know what they are eligible for, help navigate an application, or assist them in finding resources for a successful return to civilian life,” Smith added.
Congressman Smith will kick the event off  at 2:30pm with an introduction of the participants as well as be on hand to talk with veterans and try to help answer questions. The address for American Legion Post 66 is 1615 First Street, Kennett, MO 63857. This event is open to everyone.