What started as a school project for Speech 121 turned into a campaign May 1 to raise public awareness of homelessness among veterans.
Four students from instructor John Hanecak's speech class - Ryan Berg, Alex Rigali, Ryan Baumbusch and David Murk - combined efforts with the DVC Student Veterans Group to host a benefit concert in the cafeteria.
Despite the rain, a low turnout and last-minute change of location, the event still collected $575 in donations for two veterans' support groups, Swords to Plowshares and East Bay Stand Down.
The event began around 4 p.m., with visitors donating money, buying T-shirts and raffle tickets for an iPod Shuffle (donated by the financial aid office) and picking up information from the Concord Veterans' Center and Veterans of Foreign Wars booths.
Music was provided by Greg Lamboy, who plays acoustic pop. He offered to sell his CD for $10, with the sales going to the cause.
Speakers included Brad Heatherington, a DVC student and veteran of Desert Storm, who was formerly homeless.
After 15 years of post-war drug and alcohol addiction, he sought help through the Concord Veterans' Center, where he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He recovered after three years of treatment and is now married and pursuing a career as a dental hygienist.
Heatherington said a big part of his recovery was realizing there were resources for veterans and supportive people who knew what he had gone through.
"My hope here is to create awareness for students to seek help," he said, "because there is help out there."
Speech 121 student Rigali emphasized the severity of the situation during his speech.
"Although only 9 percent of the U.S. population has served in the armed forces, 25 percent of all homeless people in the country are veterans," he said.
Fellow Speech 121 student Baumbusch, a Navy veteran of the Iraq war, talked about the importance of prevention.
"[People need to] take more time," he said, "because it would be easier to prevent homelessness than to try to stop it when it already happens."
Four students from instructor John Hanecak's speech class - Ryan Berg, Alex Rigali, Ryan Baumbusch and David Murk - combined efforts with the DVC Student Veterans Group to host a benefit concert in the cafeteria.
Despite the rain, a low turnout and last-minute change of location, the event still collected $575 in donations for two veterans' support groups, Swords to Plowshares and East Bay Stand Down.
The event began around 4 p.m., with visitors donating money, buying T-shirts and raffle tickets for an iPod Shuffle (donated by the financial aid office) and picking up information from the Concord Veterans' Center and Veterans of Foreign Wars booths.
Music was provided by Greg Lamboy, who plays acoustic pop. He offered to sell his CD for $10, with the sales going to the cause.
Speakers included Brad Heatherington, a DVC student and veteran of Desert Storm, who was formerly homeless.
After 15 years of post-war drug and alcohol addiction, he sought help through the Concord Veterans' Center, where he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He recovered after three years of treatment and is now married and pursuing a career as a dental hygienist.
Heatherington said a big part of his recovery was realizing there were resources for veterans and supportive people who knew what he had gone through.
"My hope here is to create awareness for students to seek help," he said, "because there is help out there."
Speech 121 student Rigali emphasized the severity of the situation during his speech.
"Although only 9 percent of the U.S. population has served in the armed forces, 25 percent of all homeless people in the country are veterans," he said.
Fellow Speech 121 student Baumbusch, a Navy veteran of the Iraq war, talked about the importance of prevention.
"[People need to] take more time," he said, "because it would be easier to prevent homelessness than to try to stop it when it already happens."
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