By Dorothy Meindok
The Post Newspaper Veterans Consultant
If you’ve been able to park in Veterans Only Parking around Galveston County, thank the hard work of Fidencio Leija, US Navy veteran, father & husband.
He’s a veteran leader, a life coach, insurance agent, serves in Santa Fe city government as councilman, a court-appointed special advocate, education foundation board member, works with Galveston County Ranchers Association to name just a few of his accomplishments and has been recently nominated to fill Santa Fe’s open mayoral seat.
Leija has received recognition from the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce as New Business of the Year.
He wears a lot of hats well and one of those hats is at the helm of Operation Honor Our Local Veterans, a nonprofit designed to support our veterans as well as bridge the generational gaps between veterans of different service periods by working to “pass the baton” on to the next generation. There are a lot of batons to pass because the generations of warriors, most notably those from the Vietnam era before us, worked tirelessly to make sure future servicemen and women experienced a better homecoming than they did. Thank them for that warriors every day.
Operation Honor currently works closely with Vietnam Veterans of America #685 and together the veterans of each group collaborate to make certain a veteran presence is preserved in local community functions such as parades, memorials, and the like. Our nation’s WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veterans are retiring from service or aging and/or battling wartime disabilities resulting from exposures to war.
After all of their hard work, Fidencio’s nonprofit formed with the foresight of addressing that growing void head on and tackling it with positive growth while maintaining the intent and integrity. Operation Honor does great awareness work and most recently passed ordinances and laws locally to allow for heightened awareness and recognition of the veteran community with initiatives such as the Veteran Only Parking spots. Soon, they will be popping up all over Friendswood and the rest of Galveston County.
Some areas you can get involved to support this organization in their efforts are listed on their website www.HonorLocalVets.org and include:
- Installing Veteran Only Parking signs on city property and partnering with their chamber of commerce, businesses/corporations, school district, colleges, and faith-based organizations to join the movement to honor Veterans.
- Honoring a local Veteran monthly/quarterly for their commitment to serve their city through volunteering, giving back or serving in a leadership role.
- Passing a resolution to discount permits for Veterans.
- Passing a resolution to discount rentals for Veterans.
- Assigning a Veterans liaison to support Veterans’ initiatives.
- Partnering with local stakeholders to host a Veterans Day Parade and Ceremony.
- Partnering with local Veterans organizations to beautify and revitalize local Veterans Memorials.
There are so many ways to help! Just call and inquire further. Additionally, there are many significant gaps within many areas of the veteran stratosphere, one such area is in representation of veterans’ claims. Our nation’s Veteran Service Organizations and their officers, aka VSOs, are dwindling in numbers as the changes in VA law continually grow and change. There is a baton to be passed and people are needed to pass it to. I and many others are currently working on a possible, local solution in coordination with local academia, VSOs and the public sector to assist as well as help our VA meet her mission. More on that next week!
Until next week!
Dorothy
1 comment
Leija is a good fella from Santa Fe from good folks both sides..Good article. Looks like Jay’s flag.