When I first moved to the Truckee Meadows in 2008, I wasn't familiar with the Veterans Guest House…read more My introduction to VGH was by my daughter's friend who attended Orvis School of Nursing. As a military brat, this organization holds a special place in my heart. I have donated to this cause for fifteen years, including posting a reminder daily on my Facebook page to vote for VGH to win a large donation from Home Depot years ago. And, yes, they won! Finally, I visited their wonderful facility at their annual open house on December 9, 2023. I am so pleased to see that we are helping our Veterans and their families with lodging while the Veteran receives medical attention at no cost to them! Many companies and other groups provide dinner nightly for those staying there! If you have a minute, you might want to take a quick tour to see how VGH "spends" our donations and I believe you will also be impressed. Please keep in mind that VGH operates solely on the donations of our local community! There are reading areas, a laundry room, TV rooms, and bedrooms from single beds to family-sized all with bathrooms, large open community areas like the kitchen and dining area. Please remember that our Veterans signed a blank check when they served our country and now we can help them!

I'm not a veteran, so I have never used this facility…read more But it's one of my favorite organizations to contribute to. Several times a year I drop off various greeting cards for the guests to use, as well as various dental items. They also accept cash and gift cards to several area stores. Throughout the year VGH has a few fund raisers. October is Boots to Fashion. A fabulous event at a Reno casino ballroom that includes a champagne three course lunch, raffle and auction items and of course a fashion show. Women veterans of all ages and branches donate their time walk the runway and show off the latest trends in women's clothing from local shops. A fabulous event that honors the many women in the military. Why are fund raisers needed ? Because VGH provides US military service veterans and their families a place to stay in Reno while they are receiving medical treatment at the VA Center or other area facilities. The House is like a small hotel with a common area living room and kitchen. It is not associated the Veterans Administration. Guests are suggested a $25 a night donation to help defray costs, but no one is refused for lack of funds. The house, located across the street from the VA Hospital, is a non-profit, and receives no state or federal money for its day to day operations. Huge kudos for everything the VGH does for the veterans. Thank you sir and mam for your service. For more info - veteransguesthouse.org

This is a very special place for helping veterans and their loved ones…read moreTara Norman as well as the rest of the staff are truly awesome. We had struggles and she went out the way to help and show us new things. Tara provided ways for us to get on our feet as well as helping me to better my resume and find a job. Nation's Finest goes out the way to help Veterans with food and clothing as well as toiletries. It is really great support place as well. Thank You Tara at Nations Finest as well as Nathan for looking out for Veterans.

We Veterans were left behind by Nation's Finest and Nation's Finest does NOT have our Six…read more I DON'T recommend because this business is clearly NOT for Veterans and ONLY exists to pay the salaries of those there who are NOT helping Veterans. One of my several Veteran friends who lives in Reno came upon some hard times, including losing his job due to his military Service connected disabilities and he was worried about being evicted from his apartment. I told him about this place, we arranged an appointment for him on Wednesday, 1 November 2023 at 0900, and for him to drive us to and from then. The person who answered the phone at this Nation's Finest location wouldn't tell us their name, nor the name of the person they made the appointment with. We showed up for the appointment only to be told we had no appointment and they couldn't help us. They made another appointment for us Wednesday, 15 November 2023 at 1000, but wouldn't tell us the name of the person they made the appointment with. We asked to use the bathroom and the person pointed to a sign "No Public Bathrooms". We said we were NOT public, that we were there for an appointment. We were still denied the use of the bathroom. Having ready access to clean, safe public restrooms is vital part of personal and public health. Adequate public restrooms are fundamental to human dignity, and are especially critical for people like my husband, a Veteran (and other Veterans, especially the elderly ones like me) with military Service-connected Agent Orange-related prostate damage requiring him to have frequent access to a bathroom. The place was dirty. We went downstairs to the advertised Pantry and Resource Center, which also has signs "No Public Bathrooms" posted. A woman barked at us demanding to see our Veterans ids. There were six spaghetti squash and NO other food. We were told we could only take one squash. We asked about cooking utensils and winter clothes, gloves, hats, and boots and were told none are available. The place was dirty. We showed up for the next appointment only to be told the person we had an appointment with was not available and that AGAIN they couldn't help us. There were still signs stating "No Public Bathrooms". The place was still dirty. We went downstairs to the advertised Pantry and Resource Center, which also has signs "No Public Bathrooms" posted. A woman again barked at us demanding to see our Veterans ids. There were a very limited supply of some canned goods and NO other food. We were told we could only take one can of each item letting us take only four cans. We again asked about cooking utensils and winter clothes, gloves, hats, and boots and again were told none are available. The place was still dirty.

The American Legion Hall offers a nice space to hold events. It has several rooms to separate…read moreareas. Theres also a space outside A kitchen is available too and it's great to support our Vets!

We gave our today that you might have your tomorrow…read more "The Sparks American Legion Post was named for Lauren "Duby" Gilbert Reid who was killed in action on October 8, 1918. Lauren Gilbert Reid was born in Gold Hill, Storey County, Nevada on March 28th 1896. Although reared on the Comstock, he was well known in other western Nevada counties where he had a legion of friends. When the call to the colors came Reid entered military service on June 24, 1918. After training he was sent to France to serve with Company G, 308th Infantry of the 77th Division. The unit entered the fight of the Argonne forest on the extreme left end of the line in September 1918. It was the fate of this young soldier to be one of the men in the famous "Lost Battalion". He was wounded by shrapnel and died the next day of his wounds on October 8, 1918. On the gateway of a little cemetery in France is written these words: "We gave our today that you might have your tomorrow." The current Post building was built in 1980." The Duby Reid Sparks American Legion Post 30 is an active Veterans organization of some 160 members. Their goal is to provide important services to Veterans and our community. American Legion Post 30 members support the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, High School Junior ROTC, Operation Comfort Warrior, Honor Flight, and many more local and national charitable programs. They also have a Legion Riders affiliate. The building is available to American Legion members and the public for special events including wedding receptions, memorial services, celebration of life services, anniversary parties and more. They have tables, chairs, a kitchen and approximately 3500 square feet of usable space. Regular meetings are 7 pm the second Wednesday of each month. As an American Legion member, I treasure the American Legion as it is another valuable Veterans service organization.

Here's a way, both the anchor and the pixie dust, to save and help Veterans and bees at the same…read moretime. One of my young cousins, who is enigmatic without being egotistical, detached without being cold, self-reliant without being suspicious, a secular humanist who is spiritual without being religious, recently received their Honorable Discharge and asked me to help them with an idea for a business that they can own and operate. I suggested Bees4Vets, and that I and a couple other cousins would sponsor my cousin who has military Service-connected PTSD and TBI. "It is a 501.C.3 non-profit organization partnered with University of Nevada, Reno Agricultural Experiment Station and Research & Innovation. Bees4Vets' incorporated in and based in Sparks, Nevada to serve Veterans and first responder populations. They provide hands-on training in beekeeping to Veterans and first responders with PTSD and / or TBI." https://www.facebook.com/Bees4Vets/ It is organizations such as here that are on the front lines of fighting to reduce the staggering and horrifying number of Veterans who daily succumb to suicide at the rate of more than twice that of non-Veterans. Beekeeping has been known to be a good vocation or hobby for Veterans since at least the end of World War I as published in "Opportunity Monograph, Vocational Rehabilitation Series No. 37 Bee Keeping", April 1919. https://www.losangelescountybeekeepers.com/blog/2015/11/11/veterans-day-veterans-in-beekeeping.html Contact: https://bees4vets.org/contact-us/ If you are a Veteran or first responder with PTSD and / or TBI who would like to participate in this program, living in or close to North Western Nevada, contact 'em. If you are a counselor or other health professional with a Veteran or first responder client who would benefit from Bees4Vetsprogram, reach out to 'em. If you would like a Bees4Vets presentation at your school, office, social organization or church in North Western Nevada, contact 'em. If you would like to sponsor a bee hive or beekeeper student, contact them or make a donation at https://bees4vets.org/donate/ . If you are a gardener, and would like to provide a pollinator friendly garden, do the following: Fill Your Garden With Bee-Friendly Flowers One of the easiest ways to help out bees is by planting lots of bee-friendly flowers in your garden. Bees favour a wide range of flowering plants, which you can grow easily with from seedball bee mix from https://www.americanmeadows.com/wildflower-seeds/wildflower-mix/honey-bee-wildflower-seed-mix or https://www.seedsource.com/catalog/detail.asp?product_id=4505 or https://seedball.co.uk/product/bee-mix/ or https://www.bloomling.com/seedball/bee-mix-seedballs . Simply scatter the seedballs in a location of your choice, water, feed and watch them sprout! Provide Shelter For Bees Like most invertebrates, bees need shelter to nest and hibernate in. You can create your own bee shelter or buy a ready-made bee hotel - just hang it up in a sunny sheltered spot in your garden and watch bees filling the tubes during the spring and summer months. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/build-your-own-bee-hotel/ https://www.foxleas.com/make-a-bee-hotel.asp https://offgridworld.com/27-incredibly-beautiful-bee-hotels-and-why-you-should-build-one/ Pesticides are one of the key threats to bees, and so one way to help bees is to stop using them in your own garden. Some pests provide food for crucial pollinators, so leaving them to be controlled naturally is the best choice to help save bees. Help A Bee In Need Often during the summer months you may spot a solitary bee sitting unmoving on the ground. Whilst it is easy to presume it might be dead or dying, chances are it is actually exhausted and in need of a quick pick-me-up. You can help out a tired bee by mixing two tablespoons of white, granulated sugar with one tablespoon of water, placing it near the bee so it can help itself to this homemade energy drink. The greatest contribution of bees and other pollinators is the pollination of nearly three quarters of the plants that produce 90% of the world's food. A third of the world's food production depends on bees, i.e. every third spoonful of food depends on pollination. Where trees and woods are essential to filter our air, bees are vital to both pollinate the food we need to survive and pollinate most of the trees and flowers that provide habitats for wildlife. https://www.military.com/benefits/beekeeping-all-rage-these-programs-can-help-veterans-get-started.html#:~:text=In%201919%20as%20troops%20returned,of%20its%20recreational%20therapy%20programs The University of Minnesota Bee Veterans program is at https://beelab.umn.edu/bee-veterans

From the owner: Our mission is to assist military veterans and first responders living with PTSD or TBI through a…read morebeekeeping experiences in the local community; combining outdoor activity, education and community outreach to create an environment of support and training where veterans and first responders can develop the interest and skills necessary to participate in beekeeping as a vocation or hobby.

Reached out to this Center and they have left me without any help!!! What a scam on veterans!…read moreShame on you!!

I'm a homeless veteran in reno and the rep at this place, ray white, refuses to assist me…read more Don't count on assistance if you reach out to them. They pick and choose who they assist.

We'll start with this, from wikipedia (the best of sources, as everyone knows!): "The American…read moreLegion is a congressionally chartered mutual-aid veterans organization of the United States armed forces founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by the U.S. Congress" I wish I could highlight that and make it bold: "mutual-aid veterans organization of the United States armed forces founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period." Keeping that in mind. When I first moved to Reno, I had to arrange almost everything via long distance communication. After searching craigslist for a while, I found a month-to-month trailer that was parked out behind the American Legion post that would serve it's purpose for a month or two until I could find something more permanent. The guy who had listed it represented himself as a manager at this A.L. post by the way. I mailed the guy my security deposit and first month's rent and was told it was mine for as long as I needed to stay there. Sweet. With everything I owned loaded into the back seat of my Mustang, I finally pulled up here after a shitty 11 hour drive. Spent the better part of that night cleaning it from top to bottom, getting everything unloaded and stowed away, etc. Next day, the REAL manager of the American Legion post essentially tries to force his way into the trailer. I'll pause here and say this: Except under extreme circumstances, if you try to force your way into my home (rental or not) we're going to have an altercation. So I had heard the commotion and met him at the door, asked what the hell he wanted. He asked what I was doing, and I replied "just hanging out in my new apartment here." So he explains to me that the guy I had rented from was not only NOT a manager, but he was basically a charity case who was living in the basement of the main building, and had begged the A.L. post to allow him keep his trailer out back until he got back on his feet. So then the REAL manager tells me to pack my shit and get out of there. "Lease or no lease", he said, "you staying here violates code." Me: "Um... What code?" "It doesn't matter", says he, "it just isn't going to work. You're on our property here and you have to leave." Me: "You DO realize that'll essentially leave me homeless, right? I'm pretty low on funds right now, and I rented this place in good faith from hundreds of miles away. And now, you, the American Legion is going to throw a veteran out on the street?" Him: "Oh, you're a veteran? You have 24 hours then." No assistance, no advice, no leniency. If I had had the money back then, I'd have looked into legal action. To top it off, the douchebag semi-vagrant piece of work I'd rented the place from in the first place refused to give me my rent money back--just my security deposit. Again, legal action was just not feasible. But muthafucker, I'mma YELP YOU!!! So let's recap. What did we say the mission of the American Legion was? A veteran's aid organization founded to benefit those who served during wartime? (That's me BTW. Two deployments, thank you.) And kicking a veteran out into the street aids him somehow, when he has done nothing wrong?? AMERICAN LEGION POST NUMBER 1... YOU HAVE FUCKING FAILED YOUR MISSION!!!!!!!!!

As far as I know The Post has always acted in a professional manner to the public especially…read moreveterans in occordance with the Laws of the City of Reno. This incident may have occured over an illegal trailor rental which the Post had no knowledge of until it was about to be rented and we disallowed it to happen. Were sorry for any hard feelings over the incident which were are unaware of, Social events have been held at the Post for 70 years with glowing comments Bldg. Mgr.

Hell yeah love GSR. Room was spacious, clean and well maintained…read more The food at all the restaurants we ate at was delicious. Staff are all very friendly. Pool is nice, needed a cleaning after the hella windy day blew debris in it nonstop. Life guards were attentive. Spa level had the kids arcade, bowling alley, shops and white rabbit theatre. So much to do. Housekeeping was very short staffed, our room wasn't able to be cleaned daily, needed to call for towels etc. Valet is busy as hell too. Takes 10-15 minutes to drop your car and 20-30 to get it back.

Another year visiting this place, and unfortunately, not much has changed since my last stay. We've…read morebeen here since last night, and I wanted to share some of our experiences. The room was okay--nothing special, but no major complaints. The Starbucks is always packed, which seems to be the norm here. Today, I visited the Second Street Marketplace downstairs. The young employee who assisted me had very poor customer service. He didn't acknowledge me, didn't offer a bag for the items I purchased, didn't say thank you, and seemed more interested in chatting with his coworkers than helping customers. Based on what I observed, I wasn't the only customer having issues with him. We also requested housekeeping service for our room. We were informed there would be a charge, which was fine with us. However, after the service, the room looked exactly the same. The bed was made, but that was about it. Now, let's talk about the restaurant downstairs. I ordered a steak, but they brought me chicken instead. I clearly told the waitress I wanted steak. When I pointed out the mistake, another older employee insisted that what I was served was steak. I'm pretty sure I know the difference between chicken and steak. Fortunately, Teddy stepped in, listened to my concern, apologized, and had my order corrected. That is what great customer service looks like. Even our waitress suggested that I just eat the chicken, but guests should never be told to accept something they didn't order. The casino and the room itself were good, and I enjoyed those aspects of my stay. However, many of the staff members could benefit from additional customer service training. To corporate, management, the CEO, owner, or whoever is responsible: please invest in better customer service training. Your guests deserve a better experience. #CustomerService #Management #Hospitality #GuestExperience