Veterans Canteen Service (VCS)
In 1946, Veterans Canteen Service was established by law to provide comfort, health, and well-being to America’s Veterans, their families, caregivers, and VA and VHA employees. With our many retail stores, cafés and coffee shops across the country, we serve those who have served our country. Our Canteens are whole health spaces for Veterans to connect, relax, share and care for themselves in an environment that is their benefit. We are proud to Serve America’s Veterans and those who provide for their care.
Order Online
Tickets & Travel
Choose Veggies
Order Online
Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) is expanding PatriotStoreDirect online product offerings to include floral, jewelry, and gifts from national brands like Phillip’s Flowers, Glass Baron, and more.
These new offerings give Veterans more options to shop with VCS in a convenient way. Customers can submit an order on the VCS website.
Through PatriotStoreDirect, VCS sells name-brand tires at tax-free, discounted pricing; prescription contact lenses; unique gifts; jewelry; and floral arrangements exclusively to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and VA employees. VCS customer service is ready to help customers complete their orders.
VCS is offering floral arrangements and jewelry at 10% less than other national retailers. Gifts from Glass Baron, which include merchandise with official U.S. armed forces license, start as low as $15.
“We are excited to add these lines to our automotive tire and prescription contact lens services at PatriotStoreDirect,” said Lori Lee, chief services officer for VCS. “Our goal is to add value to the VCS benefit for Veterans and their families.”
Lee said PatriotStoreDirect plans to add more items for online order, including tools, automotive service, home goods, top-brand sporting goods, electronics, and toys.
“Look for PatriotStoreDirect and VCS to grow our services this year,” said Lee.
PatriotStoreDirect currently offers the following business lines:
The VCS PatriotStore is also expanding merchandise, offering more apparel for babies and toddler, as well as footwear for men and women. The PatriotStores, which offer essential items in comfortable retail spaces in VA medical centers across the U.S., are also expanding their assortment of value-priced essential apparel, such as T-shirts, jeans, and henley-style shirts for Veterans. This merchandise will provide more value and convenience for Veterans, especially those domiciled in the medical centers, to purchase comfortable new outfits.
Tickets & Travel
For Veterans and VA employees looking for exciting activities and trips this season, Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) is launching the online tickets and travel shopping benefit.
VCS offers member discounts and exclusive entertainment, and travel offers through a partnership with MemberDeals. This includes special offers, preferred seating, and tickets to top attractions, theme parks, shows, sporting events, hotels, rental cars, and more.
Ticket and travel orders are managed online through a customer-friendly interface. Users can choose from hundreds of options in entertainment, lodging, and travel, which are updated regularly. This benefit is available to Veterans enrolled in VA healthcare, their families, and VA employees.
“We are very happy to partner with MemberDeals to bring this experience to Veterans enrolled in VA healthcare, their families and caregivers, and VA employees,” said Lori Lee, VCS Chief Services Officer. “This was a popular feature for customers in the past, and I hope it will continue to bring enjoyment to the VA community going forward.”
The reintroduction of tickets and travel deals coincide with an expansion of service lines within PatriotStoreDirect. Now in its 30th year of selling tires, VCS PatriotStoreDirect is also selling jewelry, fashion items, outdoor and home merchandise, military apparel, flowers, special gifts, and more online at.
Choose Veggies
Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) is encouraging customers to choose vegetables for their Whole Health and offering more veggies in VCS cafés nationwide.
Customers can choose veggies in a multitude of ways – as a side from the PatriotCafé, as a snack from the PatriotStore, as a salad from PatriotBrew, or as a topping on anything at Creation Station, the newest meal concept making fresh-to-order sandwiches, salads, and pizzas. All VCS employees will add “Choose Veggies” flag to their VCS name badge to help promote the campaign and remind customers to make the best choices for their Whole Health.
“The Choose Veggies campaign is part of VCS’s commitment to our Be Well - Live Whole Health initiative,” said Lu Ann Swehla, VCS Chief Nutrition and Whole Health Officer. “We will ‘nudge’ customers to eat more vegetables by making them easier to order and cheaper to purchase. We are invested in the Whole Health of our customers, and we encourage them to choose more veggies.”
The “Choose Veggies” campaign is in support of VA’s Whole Health initiative, which focuses on every aspect of a Veteran’s health – body, mind, emotion, spirit – and emphasizes what is most important to the individual. Vegetables, with their many benefits to a diet, are the perfect choice to make healthy changes and improve Veterans’ quality of life.
Customers will also save 50 cents when ordering a meal deal from the PatriotCafé, as ordering vegetables as a side instead of French fries is a greater value. This is part of VCS’s goal to make healthier food choices more affordable for Veterans and their caregivers.
“The grill area is where we can make the most impact in our customer’s health,” said VCS Dietitian Kristen Schwent. “Choosing veggies over fries significantly reduces fat, saturated fat, and calories and increases fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Our veggies strike a perfect balance between tasty and nutritious, and they can make a significant difference to anyone’s health and well-being.”
VCS will offer different vegetable choices throughout the week, including broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and green beans, with various methods of preparation to increase variety. Vegetables can be roasted, toasted, steamed, glazed, and seasoned to maximize flavor while maintaining the important level of nutrition. A variety of vegetables are also available at Creation Station, while many PatriotBrew coffee shops offer salads, and PatriotStores offer veggie-based snacks.
“I encourage customers to add tomatoes, mushrooms, or even caramelized onions as pizza toppings and lettuce, red onion, and tomatoes on sandwiches and salads,” Swehla said. “There are so many ways to add color and variety to a meal, and Creation Station is the perfect service for enjoying a different meal every day.”
The “Choose Veggies” campaign comes just in time for August’s National Wellness Month. National Wellness Month, celebrated every August, focuses on practices like stress management, self-care, implementing healthy routines, and improving your overall health and wellness. Eating more vegetables is a great way to prioritize health.
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