The Veterans Club is a group of students at El Camino College who have served in the U.S. Military and were deployed overseas.
Joel Lemus Jr, 23, is a journalism student at El Camino and the club president.
“Our club is trying to provide a renewed sense of support, camaraderie and to bring purpose to those that wish to have that sense of commitment outside of military service,” Lemus said.
The club currently has 10 active members.
Since 2008, student veterans have been trying to have a social group. None of the current members are aware when the club officially registered with the college.
Jovanni Soto, a 39-year-old student studying social work and one of the members, said the group makes it easier for him to interact with other students.
“The club has been so helpful because my experiences differ from others as I am a veteran,” Soto said. “A lot of times I feel a little intimidated to open up and be sociable with people.”
Joshua Oh, 23, who has three roles for the club, said the Veterans Club helped him with the transition from being in the military to being a student.
“The club gave me a place to talk about my feelings about academics in general,” Oh said.
Oh is the historian, secretary and social coordinator of the club.
The club’s headquarters is at the Veterans Resource Center in the Student Services Building. It is open not just to veterans but all students.
Members prefer to call the office Veterans Services Office. The El Camino website lists it as Veterans Resource Center.
Soto said the members started to seek other students who were not veterans, so they ended up opening it for everyone.
This semester, the club contacted “Habitat for Humanity,” a nonprofit organization that provides housing for those in need.
The Veterans Club will work with Habitat to provide houses for veterans. They plan to set aside a day or two of eight-hour sessions to help prepare the houses.
Soto said the club works with the limited budget they have which is getting tighter compared to two years ago.
Back then, they had money for a “Big Bear Retreat,” an activity where members go to Big Bear Lake for a chance to relax and have fun.
“Last semester’s budget was under $1,500. Since it was so low, we tried to use it for small events such as making club t-shirts and providing food for the club,” Soto said.
The Veterans Club has been trying to look into fundraising to finance their activities.
They wanted to organize a raffle for two telescopes, but the Inter-Club Council and their club advisor told them a raffle is not allowed because it is considered gambling, Soto said.
For more information about the Veterans Club, call 323-480-1319 or check out their Instagram: elco_vetclub.
This semester, The Union’s Arts Desk will have a short feature on various student clubs at El Camino College. “Clubs on Campus” is a series where club representatives and members will talk about what their club is about, how it got started, who the members are, what their activities for the semester are and how they plan to finance the activities.
