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DAV Helps Better the Lives of Veterans
Parked in the grocery store parking lot, the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) trailer is waiting for clothing donations. DAV members pack groceries for shoppers at Cub or meet them at the doors with forget-me-nots. All of those activities raise funds to allow DAV members to reach out and help disabled veterans in Anoka, Isanti and Sherburne counties.
While organizations like the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) are mandated and governed by state gambling laws and restricted in how they can help, DAV can help veterans in many ways, said Scott Berndt, Anoka County chapter commander. DAV’s only mandate is to help and give assistance to disabled veterans, he said. Because the group does not raise funds using gambling proceeds, “our money is our money,” said the former Army first sergeant
If the clinic is opened, veterans will not have drive to St. Cloud for physicals or follow-up appointments, said Berndt.
Whether it is taking veterans to medical appointments, giving aid to them during time of emergencies, gift cards during the holidays or giving assistance to a deployed soldier’s family, it is left to the DAV chapter to decide, he said. All the requests go through the DAV chapter’s governing body and “if they say do it, we do it,” said Berndt.
As the Anoka County Veterans Service Office director, Duane Krueger works with veterans from all different eras and a number of veterans organizations. What the veterans service officer is able to do with the state and federal governments does not meet all the needs, he said. DAV helps the people falling through the cracks, said Krueger.
“The Anoka County chapter has always stepped up and helped with the needs even though it is the only one of the veterans organizations without gambling to bring in funds,” he said. It has helped veterans with home and car repairs, renters/damage deposits, food and toys for the kids during the holidays, Krueger said. “If there is a need, there is help,” he said. “DAV has been a real Godsend for my clients.”
After his first encounter with DAV in the early 1970s, Krueger was impressed by how it helped veterans and joined the Minneapolis chapter of DAV. He is now a member of the Anoka County DAV, which was chartered in April 1994. This group can help veterans quickly, unlike the Legion and VFW, said Krueger. “If we meet someone who does not have food, we can run over with gift card right way,” he said. “We are just here to help.” “Our mission is to build better lives for our vets,” he said.
“All of our money has to go directly to the veterans,” said member Aaron Bahe, a retired Army master sergeant. “If we can just help one person, it is worth it,” said Bahe. On a trip to HarMar Mall in Roseville, Bahe was able to save one veteran’s life. The man had come up to Bahe because he was wearing a DAV cap. He had been disabled and thought he was too young to draw Social Security even though his disabilities kept him from working, said Bahe. Six months after informing the man of his options, Bahe heard back from him. He was able to draw Social Security and his life was looking up. The day he talked to Bahe in the mall, the man was going to commit suicide, according to Bahe.
Anoka County DAV has also helped 17 Isanti County widows and families of deployed soldiers. “DAV is here to help the veterans as well as their widows and orphans,” Berndt said. The Anoka County chapter wants to spread the word that DAV is there to help, he said. A friend he served with in Germany summed up DAV perfectly, “it’s an organization that actually does what they tell you they are going to do – it is out to help veterans,” said Berndt.
Another component DAV is working on to improve services to veterans is bringing medical care closer. The chapter is currently working to get a community outpatient clinic opened in the area. If the clinic is opened, veterans will not have drive to St. Cloud for physicals or follow-up appointments, said Berndt.
Membership
Although DAV helps a lot of veterans, it is not well known, said Anna Czech, a retired Air Force senior master sergeant. For its membership, DAV offers camaraderie and commonality, Czech said. In addition to the company, she is also able to help her fellow soldiers, said the Coon Rapids woman.
There are 26,765 veterans in Anoka County and 865 of them are members of the Anoka County DAV, according to Berndt. It is the only chapter that has continued to increase membership when other veteran groups, like the Legion and VFW, are seeing a decline, he said.
DAV is for people who enjoy and get satisfaction from helping others, said Krueger.
DAV members have to have been a veteran with a zero percent or greater disabilities, said Berndt.
Currently Anoka County has members who served during the 1940s and later. The group meets the second Thursday of the month at American Legion Post 334, 11640 Crooked Lake Blvd., Coon Rapids, at 6:30 p.m.
The next DAV fund-raiser will be Nov. 23. DAV volunteers will be bagging groceries at Cub Foods, located on Highway 65 and Main Street, Blaine, Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
by Tammy Sakry Staff Writer of ABC Newspapers
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Kiwanis give back at Family Table Meal |
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| Wednesday, 12 November 2008 |
by Peter Bodley
Managing Editor of ABC Newspapers
A free hot meal is served to anyone in the community on a monthly basis at several Coon Rapids churches.
The Coon Rapids Kiwanis Club saw the Family Table Meal program as another opportunity for the club to give back to the community through a service project.
 LeRoy Curwick, president of the Coon Rapids Kiwanis Club and volunteer at Northwest Passage Charter High School, pours gravy in preparation for the Family Table Meal sponsored by the club at Faith Lutheran Church, Coon Rapids, Nov. 6.
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When Faith Lutheran Church, Coon Rapids, hosted its monthly Family Table Meal Nov. 6, Kiwanis club members were there to cook, set-up and serve the more than 200 people that came to the church for dinner.
In addition, the club paid for the food, according to Lewis Peterson, Kiwanis member.
“This was the first time we have done this and we plan to make it an annual community service project,” Peterson said.
A member of Faith Lutheran Church, Peterson said the number of people attending the monthly Family Table Meal at the church has grown in recent months to more than 200.
They include many elderly people, but also families with children, he said.
“It’s a sign of the times,” Peterson said.
A dozen Kiwanis members were joined by a half-dozen students from Northwest Passage Charter High School, Coon Rapids, as volunteers at the Family Table Meal Nov. 6.
In addition, each month volunteers from the church provide people who come to the Family Table Meal dinner a bag of paper towels, a roll of toilet paper and a choice to two personal care items at no cost, according to Jane Jochims, Faith Lutheran Church member.
These are items that food stamps don’t cover, Jochims said.
Demand for these items has grown, too, she said.
“Two months ago we gave away more than 100 bags of paper towels for the first time,” Jochims said. “Last month it was 125.”
All the paper towels, toilet paper and personal care items are paid for by the church, which also finances the Family Table Meal most months.
The Coon Rapids Kiwanis Club stepped up to the plate Nov. 6.
The Family Table Meal is served at Faith Lutheran Church the first Thursday of every month.
“It is free for everyone that comes, no questions asked,” Peterson said.
The Family Table Meal program is also offered at Peace Lutheran Church, Coon Rapids, on the fourth Saturday of the month and at Olive Branch Lutheran Church/Water of Life Outreach Ministry/Filipino-American Christian Church, Coon Rapids, the fourth Thursday of the month.
Peter Bodley is at
peter.bodley@ecm-inc.com peter.bodley@ecm-inc.com peter.bodley@ecm-inc.com peter.bodley@ecm-inc.com
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| Anoka County Libraries seek book donations |
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| Wednesday, 12 November 2008 |
by Elyse Kaner
Staff writer
Thanks to the Anoka County Library, kids who can’t afford to own a book will have one in time for the holidays.
Anoka County libraries are seeking donations of new books this year in its annual Project Bookshelf.
The books will be delivered to area food shelves and distributed to clients’ children in time for the holidays.
“There are a lot of kids in Anoka County, sad to say, who can’t afford a new book,” said Ava Larsen, children’s librarian at Rum River library.
Brighten a child’s holiday
Donate a book
The Anoka County libraries are accepting new and unwrapped books for children and young adults through November as part of Project Bookshelf. Fiction and non fiction.
The books will be distributed to county food shelves in time for a special holiday gift to kids who might otherwise not be able to afford a book.
Book drop-off sites are:
Any Anoka County Library, Anoka County History Center, Columbia Heights Public Library and ABC Newspapers at 4101 Coon Rapids Blvd. in Coon Rapids.
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“There’s just something about owning a book. There’s a certain pride in it. There’s just a magical thing about having your own possession.”
And the food shelves are excited about getting the books. People have already been asking about them, Larsen said.
The libraries will be accepting new and unwrapped books for children and young adults, including fiction and non fiction books, through November.
Picture books for toddlers are needed as well.
Last year 927 books were donated to the project, up from 717 books in 2006.
A food shelf client was disappointed recently when she called the North Anoka County Emergency Food Shelf in East Bethel and was told there would be no holiday gift giveaway this year because of a lack of space.
“But we have some books coming,” food shelf volunteer Janette Domogalla told her.
“And you could just tell the difference. That really brightened her day.”
Domogalla has been known to tuck books into the hands of an excited child while his or her parents are shopping at the food shelf.
“The kids love to come in and look at the books and take them home,” Domogalla said.
Books from the project will be donated to the following food shelves: Anoka County Brotherhood Council, Community Emergency Assistance Program, Centennial Community Food Shelf, North Anoka County Emergency Food Shelf and Southern Anoka County Assistance. Books open a child’s world, Larsen said.
“It triggers your curiosity and your imagination,” she said. “It gives you the knowledge to know you can expand your world. You can have adventures you never thought were out there.”
The Anoka County Library system has been collecting books for Project Bookshelf since the 1980s.
Books will be accepted at any Anoka County Library, the Anoka County History Center, the Columbia Heights Public Library and ABC Newspapers at 4101 Coon Rapids Blvd. in Coon Rapids from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30.
Elyse Kaner is at
elyse.kaner@ecm-inc.com elyse.kaner@ecm-inc.com elyse.kaner@ecm-inc.com elyse.kaner@ecm-inc.com
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