The Ridgefield Raptors of the West Coast League showed their appreciation for active duty military and veterans with free entry into their Sunday, July 27, baseball game against the Portland Pickles.
The Raptors lost 1-0 to the Portland Pickles on July 27. The loss landed Ridgefield at a 19-29 record on the year and propelled the Pickles to 35-8 and a solo claim to first place in the league. Though the Raptors lost, the honoring of veterans was on full display.
The Clark County Veterans Assistance Center was in attendance, right beyond the main entrance.
“Ninety-seven cents of every dollar goes directly to our service members and 3 percent goes to keeping the lights on,” Sonja Wood, outreach coordinator, said of the veteran-focused nonprofit organization. “Washington state is the only state that mandates every county have an emergency veteran relief fund. So within the center it houses that relief fund, so we’re able to help veterans with emergency things when they’re in a crisis like an eviction notice, car repairs, utilities and other things like that. Also with the center, we do a lot of fundraising.”
Wood said the veterans assistance center applies for numerous grants throughout the year for veterans who are not qualified for the relief fund so the center can still assist them with grant funding. The Clark County Veterans Assistance Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is currently located at 1305 Columbia St. in Vancouver.
“We hand out breakfast and lunch, snacks, every day to any veteran that comes in,” Wood said, adding that food boxes are available once a month, as well.
For Wood, the baseball game allows the Clark County Veterans Assistance Center to get its name out as a lot of veterans in the county don’t know of its existence, she said. The center will soon be able to expand its services as it will be moving into a new, larger building in August.
“That actually is going to be amazing for us because we will be able to bring in other resource providers,” she said. “We could bring in WorkSource that can sit with the computers and help the veterans find jobs, fill out the resumes.”
For more information on the Veterans Assistance Center, visit ccvac.net.
The Ridgefield Raptors season at the RORC is coming to an end as they next face the Walla Walla Sweets for the final three-game home series from Friday, Aug. 1, through Sunday, Aug. 3. They conclude their season on the road against the Yakima Valley Pippins from Monday, Aug. 4, through Wednesday, Aug. 6.
