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Veterans event helps the needy

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 9, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - There are at least 4,500 homeless people in Pasco County on any given day.

At least one-third of the county's homeless are veterans, and more than half of them have family members who served in the military, according to Morson Livingston, a founder of St. Jude's Homeless Veterans Resource Center, based in Pasco.

On Wednesday, the organization is coordinating a formal flag ceremony and barbecue for veterans at the Rotary Concourse Pavilion in celebration of Veterans Day. The pavilion is off State Road 52 near the Suncoast Parkway and Safety Town, the mock village where the Pasco County Sheriff's Office teaches children how to stay safe.

"We'll have (inflatables) for the kids and barbers to cut their hair, mainly for the homeless," said Livingston, a former Army chaplain who was injured during a tour in Bosnia and helped establish the resource center about a year ago.

"There also will be a formal flag ceremony, and we'll give away care packages with shaving lotion, toothbrushes and other toiletries," he said. "Some people have even agreed to bring them shoes and clothes."

There also will be portable showers and information booths where the homeless can learn what services are available to them. Although the event is on Veterans Day, people don't have to be veterans to attend.

Since the St. Jude's center was established about a year ago, Livingston said it has helped count the number of homeless veterans in Pasco, and members have gone to great lengths to connect with them. The resource center is not affiliated with St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

The group hosted its first event for the homeless July 4.

Geoff Fox

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