Volunteers help local veterans

 

December 20, 2018



Sanders County Veterans Transportation (SCVT) is honored to report its performance this year is very productive with the purchase of this Ford Flex. We thank our supporters, mainly people living in Sanders County, who are shoppers at Harvest Foods in Thompson Falls and visit our fundraising table there. Their donations and raffle participation has made this and our other vehicle purchases possible. Thank you Sanders County, you made it happen when you said “Thank You” to our veterans in a way your tax dollars cannot!

Two raffles garnered the $16,500 needed for our share of the purchase price. We raise 50 percent of the money and Disabled American Veterans (DAV) National supplies the balance from a trust fund funded by the several nationwide DAV chapters. The vehicles are given to the Veteran Administration (VA), and then the VA puts a license plate on them and returns the vehicles to DAV, together with a credit card for the fuel and maintenance

At present, Sanders County has three vehicles in service. Volunteer drivers who accept assignment from our Local Area Coordinator (LAC) operate these vehicles to transport veterans to their VA healthcare appointments free of charge. In addition to veterans in Sanders County, our volunteers cover the needs of transportation programs in nearby counties that are unable to meet all of their needed service commitments.

DAV Volunteer Transportation Network (DAV VTN), operating in Sanders County, travels to clinics in Missoula, Kalispell, Great Falls and the VA hospital in Helena. Veterans having appointments with other than VA providers can also be transported provided the appointment is VA authorized. Veterans who have appointments out of state can be taken to travel connections in Montana and be met when they return.

The entire DAV Transportation program depends volunteers. People who want to benefit our veterans can do so in a number of ways. They can volunteer in the following ways:

Volunteer to drive the DAV vehicles. You can accept a mission assignment or decline to suit your time availability;

You can become involved in the ongoing SCVT fund raising for vehicle purchases, remember too, when you mail a check to DAV Department of Montana or DAV National, it is not used locally;

You can donate money or items for SCVT raffles;

You can offer support by encouraging others to vote for veteran benefits and support candidates who favor veterans.

It is well to note that DAV is approaching its one hundred year anniversary and is chartered by Congress to be the official spokesman for the war’s wounded and their dependents.

In Sanders County there is a critical need for drivers, so please give serious consideration to joining the ranks of these vital volunteers and call our LAC to sign on at 242-0217.

Dick Wells,

Thompson Falls

 

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