Devon, PA.  October 4, 2022. Surrey Services for Seniors invites veterans, family, and community members to Surrey’s Veterans Day Luncheon on Friday, November 11, 2022 at the Radnor Hotel. Thanks to a generous donor who will underwrite the luncheon, the cost will be $35 per person. At the luncheon we will introduce the Valor Fund which was created to support programs and services for veterans.

Col. Dave Prewitt, Ret.
Marisa Porges, PhD

Honored presenters

Col. Dave Prewitt, Ret., will be Master of Ceremonies at the luncheon. Surrey is honored to have Marisa Porges, PhD, as keynote speaker. Dr. Porges is the Head of School at The Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr. She served at the White House as White House Fellow and a senior advisor for cybersecurity and technology policy at the National Economic Council. Prior to joining the White House, she was a Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and at the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Porges also served as a counterterrorism policy advisor in the U.S. Departments of the Treasury and Defense, and on active duty in the U.S. Navy, flying jets as a Naval Flight Officer.

Veterans group impact

Surrey’s veterans group was established in 2017 by Prewitt and his late wife Joan as a way to connect retired veterans. The Prewitts knew that there were “heroes among us” and encouraged veterans of all eras to share their stories of service. Through their stewardship, Surrey has welcomed notable speakers including

Dr. Eugene Richardson, Jr., a member of the Tuskegee Airmen

Dr. Eugene Richardson, Jr., a member of the Tuskegee Airman

WWII veteran Lt. Col. William Bonelli, Ret., who shared his first-person account of being on the ground during the invasion of Pearl Harbor

Tom Garvey, a veteran who lived in Veterans Stadium and described the experience in his book, The Secret Apartment: Vet Stadium, a surreal memoir.

The group also helps keep veterans informed about services and health care benefits to which they are entitled. These include changes to health care such as expanded disability coverage for exposure to Agent Orange as well as updates to pensions, life insurance, and burial services.

The Valor Fund

Several members of the veterans group depend on Surrey for rides to meetings, home care services, and meals. “We would like every veteran who would benefit from Surrey’s comprehensive services to have access to them,” says Prewitt. “This includes the social connection of meeting with other vets.” This wish prompted Surrey to launch the Valor Fund, a restricted fund dedicated to supporting programs, special events, and subsidized services for veterans in need, including Surrey membership, meals, transportation, and home-care services.

For information about the Valor Fund, please contact Dana Heiman at 484-321-6104.