For Immediate Release

26 September 2018

Monterey-Salinas Transit Partners To Provide
Transportation for Veterans Event

Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) and MV Transportation, along with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), will provide free transportation for attendees of the Monterey County Stand Down for Homeless Veterans. Starting at 8:00 a.m., Friday, September 28, MST and MV will run five routes as far south as King City and as far north as Palo Alto to bring attendees to the Monterey County Fairgrounds where veterans will camp and receive services over the weekend. At the conclusion of the event at noon on Sunday, all three transit agencies will have their vehicles lined up at the fairgrounds to return attendees to their home cities.

MST General Manager/CEO Carl Sedoryk said he is “thankful for our public and private partners in the transit industry for combining our collective forces to support some of the most vulnerable and deserving members of our community.”

The Stand Down is coordinated by the Veterans Transition Center of Monterey County (VTC) and co-sponsored by the VTC and the United Veterans Council of Monterey County. Over 1,000 volunteers attend the biennial event to provide vital services including haircuts, meals, clothing, health and dental check-ups, and counseling services for employment, housing, VA claims, legal issues, and more. The will be the fourth Stand Down held since it began in 2012. At the 2016 event, over 400 veterans were helped.

“We couldn’t be more excited about MST making their services available to us,” said Stand Down Executive Director Col. Kurt Schake, Ph.D., USAF (Ret.). “Our veterans deserve our support, and this event wouldn’t be possible without MST.”

VTC founder and Board Chair Dr. Thomas Griffin, U.S. Army (Ret.), states the mission of the event is to “give homeless veterans the opportunity to have a place of safety and rest where they can . . . gain a foothold on coming home.”

More information about the Monterey County Stand Down for Homeless Veterans is at https://www.montereystanddown.org.

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