Applications Sought for Veterans Service Award

Nominations are now being accepted from individuals and groups for the 2018 Veterans Service Awards presented by State Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Riverside County.

The awards are given annually to 10 military veterans from the 28th Senate District who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help their fellow veterans and members of the community.

Stone will present the awards at separate ceremonies held in Southwest Riverside County and the Coachella Valley in late May.

“We owe our veterans a debt that can never be repaid,” Stone said in a prepared statement. “This award is just a small token of our thanks and appreciation for what they have done, not only during their time in uniform, but after they returned home.”

Veterans groups, such as American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars Posts, are encouraged to nominate a member of their organization for the award and individuals can also nominate worthy veterans.

Stone should not have a shortage of applications. Riverside County is home to almost 140,000 veterans, the 8th largest veteran population of any county in America. Many of the cities in in the 28th Senate District have large veteran populations. Here is a snapshot:

Rancho Mirage (16.32 percent), Palm Desert (11.67 percent) and Palm Springs (10.6 percent) have the district’s largest veteran populations.

Menifee (9.38 percent), Canyon Lake (8.67 percent), Murrieta (7.02 percent), Temecula (6.52 percent) and Wildomar (6.11) also have sizeable numbers of veteran residents.

The deadline to submit applications is April 20, 2018.

Award recipients must be residents of the 28th District,  which is entirely in Riverside County and includes the cities of Blythe, Canyon Lake, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, Lake Elsinore, La Quinta, Murrieta, Temecula, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and Wildomar.

Applications and more information are available on the Senator’s website and by calling the Senator’s District Office in the Coachella Valley in Indio (760-398-6442) and Southwest Office in Murrieta. (951-894-3530).