Thursday evening. October 8th, there’s a unique fundraiser for Oklahoma veterans in downtown Tulsa and, if you want to find it, look up.
Alyssa Smythe is the spokesperson for Oklahoma Veteran’s United (OKVU) which is hosting the ‘Tulsa Top of the Town’ event next week. She says, “It’s a unique event. For sure. I feel like the draw is that you don’t get to see this perspective of downtown Tulsa.”
We spoke with Alyssa and Oklahoma Veteran’s United Development Director Christina Merlot while standing on the rooftop patio over the 11th floor of The Mayo 420 Apartments, one of six rooftops where the event is taking place.
Patrons will enjoy that unique perspective on downtown while also indulging in food and drinks from local restaurants and caterers, all to support OKVU’s mission of connecting the state’s veterans with housing services, suicide prevention resources, and employment opportunities.
Smythe says OKVU used to be known as the Community Service Council, which for 80 years offered a wide variety of assistance to Oklahomans from many walks of life. “But,” she says, “in 2024, we rebranded to solely focus on our veteran efforts. So, that’s where we became Oklahoma Veterans United.”
There are over 270,000 veterans living in Oklahoma and almost 19,000 of them live below the poverty line. The latest point-in-time count showed that around 300 veterans are homeless on any given night in the state.
Merlot says these are the veterans OKVU is trying to help.
“We have a few federal grants that specifically help place homeless veterans back into housing and help them get stabilized. We can also help in some situations with veterans that are possibly getting evicted. We can help them save their housing and help get them stabilized as well.”
11 stories up at Mayo 420 you have an amazing wrap-around view of almost all of downtown Tulsa. From the BOK Center on one side to Boston United Methodist Church on the other and you can see many of the rooftops that this Top of the Town event will take place on.
“The great part of Mayo 420,” says Merlot, “is you really get a 360 view of Tulsa. Some of the other rooftops have really great views but this one, it really shows you how beautiful Tulsa is.”
The other rooftops you’ll be able to party on are the PhilTower Building, Reunion Center, Tulsa Club Hotel, The Mayo Hotel and Hyatt Place.
Top of the Town, benefiting Oklahoma Veterans United, takes place Thursday evening, October 8th. Tickets are 75-dollars and are available at TulsaTopOfTheTown.com.