Photo: VETS Canada

For the third year, hundreds of volunteers across Canada will walk the streets in 21 cities, including Kelowna, looking for homeless veterans.

The annual Coast to Coast Tour of Duty, organized by Veterans Emergency Transition Services, will take place June 9 in cities from St. John's to Victoria.

The purpose of the walk is to raise awareness about veterans' homelessness and to identify those veterans who are currently living on the streets.

“Last year’s event allowed us to identify 17 homeless and/or in-crisis veterans, and we received many more referrals for emergency assistance after the fact, due to the event’s publicity,” said Jim Lowther, VETS Canada co-founder and president.

VETS Canada is a national charity that looks to address the needs of homeless and in-crisis veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP.

“One of the things that sets VETS Canada apart from other veteran initiatives is that we don’t wait for those in crisis to come to us. Our volunteers literally hit the streets, boots on the ground, in their local communities in search of veterans who need our help,” said Lowther. “The Tour of Duty is just that, but on a national scale.”

Anyone interested in helping with the walk can RSVP by emailing [email protected].