Scotch and Cigars Evening to 
Benefit Connect-Vets Organization

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By Rebecca Maynard

If you are in search of an entertaining evening and would also like to support an important cause, come on out to the Scotch and Cigars evening on Saturday, May 27. Held from 2 to 9pm at the Berryville VFW Post 9760, 425 S. Buckmarsh Street, the evening will include three tastings and a raffle draw with a $25 
entrance fee. 

“In December 2019, Samuel Marx unknowingly began a mission of hope,” reads the Connect-Vets website. While working with a nonprofit whose mission was to give all that wanted it Basic First Aid Training, he found a need 
for veterans.

Many veterans were coming in, updating their training and sharing stories, and quite a few were the same. They were struggling to pay bills, buy food or even cover copay costs. As a veteran himself, Samuel wanted to find a solution, so he created Connect-Vets, an 
organization that would connect veterans to help in their time of need. Six months into the new venture, it was clear that although there are support services for veterans, many were falling through the gaps or just not able to 
get help.

In Late 2020, Samuel refocused his idea for Connect-Vets and created its website, www.connect-vets.org, which is solely focused on supporting veterans in their time of need. By the end of 2022, Connect-Vets had donated over $450,000 worth of support.

The Scotch and Cigars evening in Berryville was organized to benefit the Connect-Vets organization’s Lights-on/Heat-on/AC-on program, which helps fund veterans struggling to pay their 
utility bills.

“My husband is a Marine Corps Veteran, so helping vets is very personal to me,” said Clarke County resident 
Stacie Garner, Vice President of Fundraising for Connect-Vets. “A friend of mine and I were discussing how so many vets struggle with civilian life after service and there are so many ways they can be helped to assimilate after service.”

Tickets are on sale now a
nd can be bought online at 
www.connect-vets.org, or by emailing Garner at stacie@
connect-vets.org.