TYLER, Texas — The second Rose City Airfest was a major success, bringing in over 4,000 attendees to watch historic planes soar through the East Texas skies.
It also served a much greater cause. Proceeds from the event are going straight to CampV, a local veteran resource center.
CampV's reach is growing exponentially. In 2020, they served roughly 300 veterans per year but now, they serve around 340 veterans per month.
Because of this high demand, those at CampV are working around the clock to make sure they can provide all their veterans with the care and resources they need.
"They come for connections, information," said CampV co-founder Susan Campbell. "But in order to serve them, we need to have that assistance available for them."
Campbell emphasized the importance of the Rose City Airfest for helping to provide funds to serve their veterans and improve their current campus. For the veterans, it's crucial that they receive these benefits.
"We've been told by many veterans that they wish they had this when they came out of the service," Campbell said. "That's one of our missions: to help them best transition to civilian life."
However, the Airfest is CampV's singular fundraiser throughout the year. With different needs every single day, Campbell also said the nonprofit is in need of donations from community members to keep them up and running.
"We definitely need donations from the community," Campbell said. "Just like you see on TV, even $10 a month could really help us provide the necessary resources and more for these veterans."
For those who are interested in supporting CampV's mission, the organization accepts donations on their website.