The support of America is not the only thing NIU’s Veterans Club is thinking about.

The club serves the campus and the DeKalb community and plans events each semester to give members opportunities to venture from school, according to its Web site www.geocities.com/niuvets.

The Veterans Club supports not only academic excellence but also extra-curricular activities.

The organization, which was started in 1955 by Korean War veterans, had this year’s first meeting on Sept. 27. The Veterans Club meets every two weeks at the Campus Life Building.

Matt Pefley, president of the Veterans Club and a senior business management major, said it is a way to meet new people who have the same interests in veterans, as well as an opportunity to belong to an organization.

“I think everyone wants to belong to something or just wants that security of fitting in,” Pefley said. “We just have a common bond. We weren’t all in the same branches, but we all went through the same thing.”

Pefley joined the Veterans Club four years ago. Being a member of the Air Force, he feels the club is not just about veterans but community service projects as well.

“We do such projects as Toys for Tots,” he said. “We also go during the holidays to Barb City Manor, the nursing home, and play bingo with the older people. We really enjoy that and helping out others.”

The club is open to all people who want to learn more about veterans.

“It’s not about being in the military anymore,” Pefley said. “Some guys are afraid. They don’t need to be afraid of checking it out.”

Eddie Zapata, the vice president of the Veterans Club, served in the U.S. military for six years and has been a part of the club for four.

“We are primarily a social club of people who serve in the military. If you want to meet a group of peers to socialize with, the Veterans Club would be it,” Zapata said.

For Pefley, the Veterans Club gave him more than just a membership.

“There’s a brotherhood that can’t be bought,” he said. “It’s something there, like a common thread. We are more than willing to have others join.”