Military Officer - November 2008 - (Page 43)

chaptersinaction tenberg, USAR-Ret.; and auxiliary members Margaret Harris and Teddy St. Clair perform a variety of tasks as VAVS volunteers, ranging from assisting in the medical center’s emergency room to helping out in the optical shop. In addition, chapter members make yearly contributions and assist with other VAVS-sponsored programs, including a food basket program for needy veterans. ment to support the VA hospital with donations, is making life a bit more comforting for hospitalized fellow veterans,” says chapter president Maj. Robert Rider, USMC-Ret. YOUR OPINION What more do you think members of the MOAA chapter system can be doing for veterans and their families at a local level? Tell us about it at www.moaa.org/discussion. Click on Chapters Helping Veterans. Visitors who care In Indiana, members of the White River Chapter travel to the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis once a month and visit with hospitalized veterans to lift their spirits. Chapter members Getting into the spirit bring books, magazines, and prepaid long-distance calling cards that they of volunteering In September 2008, Albuquerque distribute to patients. Last year, the (N.M.) Chapter member CW04 chapter purchased $1,000 worth of Richard Saylor, AUS-Ret., reached calling cards, with the nearby Indiathe 10,000-hour mark as an emernapolis Chapter kicking in an addigency room volunteer at the Raytional $800 worth. mond G. Murphy VA Medical Members of the Charleston Center in Albuquerque. (S.C.) Chapter visit with hospitalThe VAVS’ Web site (www.vol ized veterans quarterly at the Ralph unteer.va.gov) contains a calculator H. Johnson VA Medical Center in volunteers can use to Charleston, says chapdetermine the value of ter member Maj. Terry the time they donate. Joyce, USAF-Ret., who Chapter Based on the current helps organize the efmembers value of a volunteer fort. Chapter members hour, which is $19.51 spend part of many visit hosas determined by The Saturdays talking with pitalized Independent Sector, patients and distributveterans Saylor has saved the ing comfort-care items at VA cen- such as toothbrushes VA more than $195,100. Saylor also keeps his ters once a and toothpaste, combs, chapter informed about and hairbrushes. month to items patients need at lift their Support when the VA medical center. spirits. Members have dipped it’s needed Distance hasn’t stopped into the chapter’s members of the Emerald charitable giving fund Empire (Ore.) Chapter from supportand purchased a washing machine, a dryer, a refrigerator, a microwave ing the Roseburg VA Medical Center. oven, six DVD players, furnishings Although the medical center is 80 for the medical center’s chapel, and miles away, members collected and other items. donated approximately $5,000 worth “It is a good feeling to know that of clothing, personal amenities, and our chapter, through its commitlong-distance calling cards to VA pa- tients last year, according to chapter secretary and legislative chair Capt. Charlie Cole, USN-Ret. Members of the Tucson (Ariz.) Chapter donate men’s and women’s clothing to hospitalized veterans who receive care through the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System. The chapter also sponsored a hole at the 2008 Veterans’ Patient Programs Annual Golf Tournament, which raised $12,200. Members of the Sunﬂower (Kan.) Chapter serve food and distribute clothing to homeless veterans during Kansas City’s Stand Downs, which are run by the Heart of America Stand Down Foundation. Sunﬂower Chapter President CWO3 David Kennedy, USMCRet., got the idea to participate in a Stand Down in 2001 after reading a newspaper article about the event. Soon after, he and his fellow chapter members began volunteering at the biannual Stand Downs, which provide homeless veterans in the Kansas City area with respite, food, and medical care and help connect them to available services. “It’s a way of giving back,” says Kennedy. “In the Marine Corps — and the military — you’re taught to never leave someone behind. That’s why we do this.” NOVEMBER 2008 MILITARY OFFICER 43 http://www.moaa.org/discussion http://www.volunteer.va.gov http://www.volunteer.va.gov

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - November 2008

Military Officer - November 2008 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapters in Action Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Financial Guidebook Out of the Red 7 Year-End Tax Strategies Cover Story: Memory Survives Something to Say MOAA Scholarship Recipients Pages of History Faces of MOAA Information Exchange Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Member Services MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - November 2008

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