First-of-its-kind Rotary Club is for veterans who want to help other veterans

A special Rotary Club in Minnesota has one goal: To help veterans assist other veterans.

The idea for the club came to co-founder Tom Gump in July, after he hosted a dinner for vets. The Rotary Club is a service organization that aims to advance goodwill and peace around the world, and this chapter will focus on different projects to help veterans.

The Rotary Club of Minnesota Veterans launched in October, and there are already 40 members, men and women in their 20s all the way to their 90s. "It's so nice to see different generations of vets, all with one goal of bettering the lives of other veterans," Brittany Ritchie Sievers, an Army veteran, told the Star Tribune.

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Members are now busy planning projects and discussing ways to help local veterans, and while they are a brand new club, Gump said he's already talked with Rotary leaders in other states who are interested in starting similar chapters. "I'm just excited to see what this club has done a year from now," Gump said. "There's so much passion here." Catherine Garcia