The Veterans Affairs Department’s outreach strategy to try get Boston area vets enrolled in benefits is targeting the town’s famous love of sports.
The VA is paying $7,500 a piece to run ads in annual yearbooks for the New England Patriots and Boston’s Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins, which, by the way, need two games to win hockey’s Stanley Cup.
Michael B. McNamara, outreach program manager for the VA’s New England healthcare system, said in a phone interview that the VA as been running ads in the yearbooks for two years. So far, the strategy of reaching out to vets based on the fact the city is so sports crazy seems to be working, he said.
“It’s a religion up here,” he said of Boston’s love of pro sports teams.
McNamara said 504 veterans have contacted the VA after seeing the ads asking about benefits. McNamara said the outreach is important because many veterans don’t know they’re eligible for benefits.
McNamara emailed a copy of one ad slated for the Red Sox yearbook, and you can see it here.
