Pennsylvania Outdoor Veterans, a Parryville-based nonprofit that provides outdoor activities for combat veterans, their families and caregivers, is having an open house at its new facility this Friday.

The operations center is at 216 Rock Hill Road, Parryville.

At 1 p.m. will be an invitation only event because of limited seating. It will include remarks from Pennsylvania Outdoor Veterans representatives, Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veteran Affairs, including the state Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Mark Schindler and Executive Deputy Secretary Marc Ferraro, and Deputy Adjutant General Veterans Affairs Brig. Gen. Maureen Weigl.

There will be an open house for the public from 3-6 p.m. Visitors are asked to donate canned food items for the veterans food bank.

“This is a significant step forward for POV,” says the organization’s founder Ryan Bowman. “For years we’ve wanted to have a center of operations and someplace for veterans to visit for support, in times of crisis, or just as a place to gather.”

Bowman said the Parryville site is part of a three-phase strategic plan that includes a retreat facility in central Pennsylvania and an office in western Pennsylvania.

Bowman is a combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He founded Pennsylvania Outdoor Veterans seven years ago to raise awareness of the struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, and suicide that many veterans face upon returning from combat.

“When I was a senior in high school, I enlisted in the Army Reserves, and before the age of 21, I was in Desert Storm,” says POV Board President Lisa Wetzel. “The office has provided us not only with a place to meet, but also a place to help fellow veterans. We have been able to expand our services, and we feel that it brings us one step closer to our ultimate goal of having a retreat center.”

Pennsylvania Outdoor Veterans’ primary goal is to reduce veteran suicide through the healing nature and camaraderie developed during outdoor activities such as camping, hunting, and fishing.