SANFORD - A Veteran College Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14, at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center in Sanford.

The Central Carolina Community College Veterans Upward Bound program sponsors the event, which will include a veteran memorial event beginning at 9 a.m. Also serving as a sponsor is Bojangles of Pittsboro.

Guest speaker for the veteran memorial will be Spring Lake Mayor Chris V. Rey, who served seven and a half years in the U.S. Army -- including command of the Third Special Forces (Airborne) Signal Detachment. His military accolades include the Bronze Star. The veteran memorial service is open to the community.

The Veteran College Fair - open to the community, but focusing on veterans -- will provide veterans with information from various public, private, and community colleges in North Carolina.

"Everyday and every hour there is a man or woman somewhere protecting our nation, some making the ultimate sacrifice," says CCCC's Wilson Lester, Outreach Coordinator, Veterans Upward Bound. "Our tribute to them is helping their brothers and sisters at arms achieve an education that they can use to prosper their families, and providing a veteran focused college fair in our community is just one way we can do that."

Aaron Mabe, Academic Coordinator, Veterans Upward Bound, says veterans face a unique challenge that most traditional students will not encounter while enrolling in a college or university. "Incorporating a veteran focus in college recruitment will not only raise awareness to the exceptional challenges this population faces, but also ensure academic success for the brave men and women who have so proudly served us," says Mabe.

Veterans Upward Bound is a federal grant program designed to motivate and assist veterans in the development of academic and other requisite skills necessary for acceptance and success in a program of postsecondary education.

For more information on the CCCC Veterans Upward Bound program, call 919-718-7463, email veteransub@cccc.edu, or visit the program's website www.cccc.edu/vub.