Let's do something for military veterans, spouses and widows. It might take you 10 to 20 hours of work to replicate this event.
Arrange for your town to host a V.A. Enrollment Day.
What happens is that you contact VA and they send an Outreach Team to your town. On the 14th, VA is coming to Secaucus, NJ, to help vets fill out the forms and get through the red tape and paperwork. This is a Federal event using a local site.
Any wartime vet or spouse or widow close to the New York area can participate. Secaucus is about 15 minutes west of the Lincoln Tunnel coming out of Manhattan.
Any kossack could help arrange a similar event. It's nice to say "Thank you for your service." Helping to do one of these events -- mainly to help older vets from WW II, Korea, Vietnam -- is truly useful.
Details Below --
This Secaucus event is sponsored by Disabled American Veterans. That is a good thing, of itself, but you do not need to have one of the established veterans service organizations involved.
It does help to go in with your local government -- they have rec centers and high school auditoriums and gyms that are perfect for community service events. Some of these Enrollment Day events are sited at hotels and churches, too. Any place with a mid-size parking lot and a big meeting roomwill do.
Town of Secaucus also supporting this event. The Town Council voted unanimously to establish a committee to support Veterans Task Force events. Doing this May 14th, 2011, Enrollment Day is the first such activity. From the flier:
Enrollment Day on Saturday, the 14th of May, 2011
Secaucus Recreation Center from 10 AM to 2 PM
1200 Koelle Boulevard, Secaucus, NJ 07094-4157
Google maps works for directions. There's also the Rec Center staff who can give you directions: 201-330-3299.
If you drive to Secaucus, get to Paterson Plank Road, go north then make a right on Farm Road, make another right on Meadow Lane which changes name to Millridge Road. When you get to the corner of Koelle Blvd. you will see the Rec Center on your right.
The Big Building.
A lot of the older vets do not know what all VA offers as standard support , particularly for vets who did not get a Purple Heart or suffer significant disability. Next to none of the Widows know much about VA.
It can be important. Keeping the widows out of poverty is one very important part of what VA does. Same for keeping vets out of becoming homeless, or not getting essential medical care.
-- WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT THE V.A.
HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ?
-- V.A. BENEFITS FOR VETERANS, SPOUSES & WIDOWS ?
· Full assistance filling out the V.A. enrollment fors.
· Wartime veterans seeking information about how to enroll in the VA health care and benefits systems should bring a copy of your discharge papers. The discharge paper is Form DD214 for Korea and Vietnam and more recent vets.
· The Secaucus Veterans Task Force can assist with obtaining this form and other required documentation.
· Eligibility for spouses and widows will be addressed. To get things done with a one-day Enrollment, please bring a copy of your Marriage License.
· The new Extended Pension system will be explained. Typically this kicks in for older vets and family if medical bills overwhelm your pension income.
· The Veterans Administration program begins with a 45-minute information session provided by Outreach Team professionals.
· Learn about non-health related benefits such as: life insurance, filing disability claims, home loans, and the VA’s death and burial benefits.
· VA’s mobile health bus will be on-site to serve wartime “eligible” vets.
Please come midday Saturday. 10 AM is the kick-off time.
You can RSVP your interest.
Please contact 658-3317 in A/C 201 or the Town of Secaucus at 330-2000.
Secaucus Recreation Center, 1200 Koelle Blvd. at cross street Millridge Road.
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Kossacks can set up replicas of this event anywhere in the country. Surprising how many towns are not reached with these events.
All you've got to do is ask.
Your towns and counties have meeting resource sites that a very lightly used midday Saturdays. It doesn't take any extra police man-hours to do crowd control.
Biggest thing you might want is a couple kids to help with pushing the odd wheelchair. Otherwise, setting up chairs and tables is the most of it.
The good side is that you might very well help out someone who really needs it. Getting vets to the Veterans Health Administration clinics puts them with the top system in the country for long term treatment. Even if payment is through Medicare, they are better off.
Thank you for reading through this diary entry.