In a renovated garage in Howard Township on Tuesday, a dozen members of R-Vets laugh and eat pizza together, but with the unfurling of the American flag, they all stand to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. After the pledge, the group focuses and discusses how to carry out one collective mission: to help U.S. troops and veterans.

That help is often in the form of comfort, President Ed Selent said.

An event to provide that comfort will be taking place Sunday. R-Vets is providing breakfast starting at 8 a.m. and lunch at 11 a.m. at a Michiana Cruisers Car Show at Buchanan’s Centennial Park. Donations generated from car-gazing and full-course meals will go toward Battle Creek, Michigan’s VA Medical Center.

Veterans of all ages are encouraged to come, Selent said.

R-Vets hosts numerous events throughout the year, from donation drives to carnivals to feasts, and many are meant to provide joy that some veterans are not able to consistently have.

Many R-Vets events especially seek to engage patients in Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers, he said. Some are receiving treatment for physical injuries, others for mental.

That means much time is spent in the centers, where a good meal, familiar everyday objects and fun opportunities are not always available, Selent said.

When explaining why he believes those comforts are important, Selent said a comment from a patient in a VA psychiatric ward sticks in his mind.

“This is like being in a prison, and I haven’t done anything wrong,” he recalled the patient saying.

To prevent feelings such as the ones Selent saw in that patient, R-Vets brings comforts to VA patients or works with the VA to bring patients to R-Vets events.

Other R-Vets events include a Nov. 27 Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas party at the Battle Creek center and an Aug. 3 steamed corn cookout at the same location.

“This is a way we can give them a party when they normally can’t come to our parties because they’re at the hospital,” Selent said.

Some of the event’s attendees from the medical center are talkative while others are not. Regardless, Selent said he tries to talk to as many veterans as he can. These are some of his favorite moments at the events.

The events are meant to not only raise money for and give comfort to veterans, they are meant to raise awareness about them, Selent said. He thinks veterans, especially young ones, are easily forgotten save at national holidays like Veterans Day.

“Everybody thinks about the veterans for an hour or two, maybe one day, and the next day, they’re forgotten,” he said.

That is why he is appreciative of events co-hosted by schools.

Southside School, of Niles Community Schools, hosts a dinner sponsored by R-Vets. There, some students read poems about veterans, while one other plays “Taps” on a horn.

“That stuff we really, really like because kids don’t always know everything about veterans,” he said.

Children and veteran awareness also extend to Bangor High School’s participation in R-Vets’ donation drive. Students work to collect items from socks to fun gifts throughout the school year. The event, he said, helps them recognize veterans for their work and their struggles.

At the Tuesday R-Vets event, one veteran in particular was recognized: fellow R-Vet member Tim Ida, who has been with the group for years.

“He’s been a world of help to the vets,” Selent said.