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Fundraising to renovated Vets Hall off to strong start
'Insider campaign' brings in thousands

by Geoff Gillette

The ambitious $7 million reconstruction of the Veterans Memorial Building in downtown Danville is getting off the ground in style, with sizable donations made even before the actual fundraising campaign begins.

John Lind, a consultant for the Veteran's Memorial Building Development Committee of San Ramon Valley, announced at a recent meeting of the Veterans Building Steering Committee that while they have not yet begun working on outside donations, they have already put the word out among the veterans community that they are looking for funds to assist with the Veterans Hall.

"We wanted to use our 'insiders' campaign to get things started," Lind said.

At the meeting Lind announced they had a donation to put in that very evening. He called Martin DeVenuta to the podium. DeVenuta is the treasurer for the Viet Nam Veterans of Diablo Valley. DeVenuta presented the committee with a pledge of $10,000.

With the pledge from the Viet Nam Veterans, committee member Karen Stepper said they had so far raised around $35,000.

The Town of Danville has already committed to putting $5 million into the project.

Now that the committee has chosen an architect and formalized its meeting structure, Lind said that they will be hitting the ground to generate the funds needed for the massive project.

The group will be coordinating with the various veterans organizations as well as the town and the public in trying to bring in $3 million to help with the work on the hall.

Members of the Steering Committee will be meeting over the next several weeks to examine what options are available to them in regards to how the work should be done at the Vets Hall. Once a plan is in place, officials said fundraising efforts will begin in earnest.