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It took a few seconds for the good news to sink in. Iii days after the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals earned their Super Bowl spots, Eddie Cerda'due south cellphone dinged with a surprise message.
The Navy Veteran was going to join them – or at least spotter from the stands at SoFi Stadium – and it was only going to cost him a modest commitment fee.
It didn't annals right away.
"Then I got this big smile on my face," he said. "I said to myself, 'I'thou actually going to the Super Bowl!'"
Cerda won the two tickets from Vet Tix. The nonprofit partners with major sports teams, leagues, promoters, organizations, venues and ticket holders to provide complimentary tickets to active-duty troops and Veterans beyond the country.
Navy Veteran Eddie Cerda won tickets to Super Bowl LVI thanks to Vet Tix. The nonprofit provides sports, concert and other event tickets to Veterans and the military.
The only cost is the handling fee. V percentage of that goes back to run the organisation and the balance is reinvested to give more tickets away.
"I figured I'd check their web site right after the AFC and NFC championship games," said Cerda, who lives in Los Angeles and gets care at VA Long Embankment Healthcare System.
That turned out to be a good decision.
Vet Tix secured ii seats directly from the NFL. More than than 11,000 signed up for the chance to go them, said Steve Weintraub, Vet Tix master strategy officer.
"It's funny considering I look up the price of tickets every twelvemonth, and those tickets were going for at least five one thousand each," Cerda said.
He decided to use the other ticket for his brother, and almost texted him the news.
"I started to text and stopped," Cerda continued. "I had to tell him in person to encounter his reaction. It was worth information technology to meet that. He only looked very, very shocked, like someone ran over his cat."
And that, Weintraub said, is why Vet Tix does what it does.
"The tagline of our organisation is to give something to those who gave," he said. "If you're an Due east-5 or a Veteran, and you lot've got a family and two kids and make $40,000 a yr, yous don't have coin in your upkeep for entertainment. Only now with Vet Tix, you tin can have your family to a game, you tin afford the hot dogs, soda and a ball cap. That instills that pride that you can provide for your family. If you served your country, y'all deserve to be able to go to a ballgame."
Weintraub, a Marine Corps Vet, knows the struggle firsthand. He spent 32 years in uniform – 10 active-duty and 22 years in the Reserve – and served in Somalia and Iraq. But when he first got off active duty in 1994 as a first lieutenant, the job he lined up fell through. He found himself doing manual labor in the sweltering Arizona lord's day for piffling pay.
"I idea I was going to have a neat job," he said. "Instead, I'chiliad sandblasting pigment off the highway. There merely weren't a lot of wraparound services for Veterans for employment and transition back and so. My struggle was hard getting out. Was it personal? Yes. So, if I tin aid others with their transition, or assistance when they're out, that's the best job to have."
Cerda said the free tickets were a great treat. He separated from the Navy after 4 years working as a hull maintenance technician, and now works ii function-time jobs while going to schoolhouse for a degree in journalism.
"It'due south a dandy feeling knowing people care enough to give these tickets and, equally a Veteran, you tin can get out and accept a proficient time with your family," Cerda added. "Most people who use it can't afford to become to these events any other way. They're near Veterans helping Veterans. Whenever I meet people, I give them the spider web site info and tell them to sign upwards."
Cerda said he'll still hope and dream to get back to the big game if his dear Chicago Bears always make it back. But if not, he'll never forget his Super Basin feel.
"Just walking up and seeing the stadium and all the signs with 'Super Bowl this,' and 'Super Basin that,' and then walking inside the stadium with all those people," Cerda said. "The best part was the game was a existent nail-biter right downwardly to the end. Y'all could feel the possibility in the stands with the Bengals fans screaming and yelling with the penalties at the end.
"The whole matter felt pretty amazing. I was actually at the Super Bowl. Told my brother afterward that it was so cool, but it felt like it didn't happen. It most felt like a dream. Simply shoot, they say a movie is worth a k words, and I've got pictures for my proof I was in that location."
Vet Tix has so far given away 11,365,450 tickets to 130,807 events. Active duty service members and Veterans tin learn more than about the sign upwards process at vettix.org.
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Source: https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/100331/veteran-wins-super-bowl-tickets-thanks-to-vet-tix/
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