TAMPA, Fla. — A Pasco County man has seen his dream come true. It’s a Vets Feeding Vets program run by the Amvets Post 550 in Zephyrhills. 

Post finance officer Ernie Smith said the post had an unused building near the Zephyrhills airport and the post was wondering what they should do with it.

Several months ago, Smith woke up in the middle of the night with an epiphany. He told his friend LeeAnne Starcher about using the building for a weekly feeding program.

“In fact, at 3 (a.m.), when I had the dream, Leanne was home. I knew she was up because we are good friends,” he said. “I called her at 5 o’clock and said, 'Meet me for breakfast, I got an idea.' And she fell in love with the idea.”

Smith and post members worked on cleaning out and sprucing up the building for several months, and they recently held a ribbon cutting for the first day of the program.

“These bags here are bread and produce,” said Smith as he showed off some of the food that would be given away. The food is donated by local businesses. The bags include meat, bread, and vegetables among other things.

Veterans or their representatives are required to show their identification and other information one time to qualify for the food. Then they’ll be on a list that will allow them to come back each week.

Smith said the community has been supporting his mission.

“Last week we had a church come in and bless the building for us. And nobody here gets paid. It’s all volunteers,” said Smith.

Starcher is excited about how the program has come together.

“With God’s help we pulled it off. Because that’s what it took,” she said.

Volunteer Kathy Kincaid loves the Vets Feeding Vets program.

“Because they need assistance just as much as anybody else. They are on very limited incomes, very limited resources. We are able to help them and add to those resources,” she said.

The Vets Feeding Vets program is open Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 4717 Airport Rd. in Zephyrhills.