Annual Military Appreciation Gala upholds tradition to honor heroes, end veteran homelessness

It’s easy to thank a veteran. It’s harder to change a life. 

That’s the gap the Exchange Club of Daniel Island set out to close 10 years ago – one gala, one veteran, one story at a time. 

On Friday, Nov. 14, the 11th Annual Military Appreciation Gala will return to the Daniel Island Club, bringing together residents, veterans, and active-duty service members for an evening of celebration and purpose. Cocktails begin at 6 p.m., followed by dinner, music, and dancing at 7 p.m. 

Beyond the polished table settings and live music, the event directly funds programs changing the lives of South Carolina veterans. 

“November is National Veterans and Military Families Month,” said Joe Delpino, past president of the Exchange Club of Daniel Island and a retired navy veteran. “With hundreds of thousands of service members deployed overseas, recognizing the daily sacrifices made by active duty, Guard, and Reserve military families has never been more important.” 

The statistics Delpino shared are sobering. 

Out of a U.S. population of 347 million, just 1.31 million are active-duty military – barely 0.4% of Americans. More than 460,000 service members have been exposed to improvised explosive devices, many left with lasting brain injuries. Over 50,000 veterans are unhoused, and 17 take their own lives every day, many of them without shelter or support. 

“To meet the travesty of unhoused veterans in America, the Exchange Club initiated Project ZERO, an initiative to serve our veterans and to drive to zero the number of unhoused in South Carolina,” Delpino said. 

The Project ZERO mission is already seeing results: “We are happy to report that over 600 unhoused veterans in South Carolina are now off the streets – as well as 247 of their children – and into the program with a 91% success rate of fundamentally changing the trajectory of their lives,” he said. “All the result of the generosity of participants in the Annual Military Appreciation Gala. 

“To me, the military appreciation gala is an amazing evening filled with unbridled patriotism, personalized with photographs of our service personnel,” Delpino said. “It’s about expressing our appreciation for their service and, importantly, knowing that we are helping transform the lives of service members who are struggling to transition after their military service.” 

Tickets and registration are available at dixchangeclub.org/veterans-day.