La Grange Park Volunteer Knows Importance of Veterans, Active Troops

While many families are having parties this Memorial Day weekend, a La Grange Park woman knows how important it is remember those who served in the military - and often were left disabled and hospitalized  - or still are deployed overseas.

Crystal Deters has just finished chairing the 2012 Poppy Days for the La Grange-based Robert E. Coulter Jr. Post, American Legion Auxiliary, that was held May 24 to 26.

She  said honoring Memorial Day is important because it is, “remembering those veterans who gave everything for our freedom.” She added, “For (some) people it’s one more holiday; do they really remember the reason for the holiday and why they’re getting off work?”

She will be at the post home, 900 S. LaGrange Road, today for The Legion’s Memorial Day services.

Each year around Memorial Day, Veterans of Foreign Wars members and American Legion Auxiliary volunteers distribute millions of bright red poppies in exchange for donations to help disabled and  hospitalized veterans, according to cal-mum.com, a website for a Caledonia, N.Y. veterans group.  The hospitalized veterans who make the poppies can earn a small wage to supplement their income and make them feel more self-sufficient, the site adds.

Deters said Wanda Lovely, the woman in charge of American Legion volunteers at Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital, told her that Hines veterans made 250,000 poppies that were distributed statewide for Poppy Day sales.

And donations that the Coulter Post Auxiliary receives then stay locally, being used to help veterans at the Hines and Jesse Brown VA hospitals, the latter in Chicago.

Deters, a board member of the auxiliary, is helping veterans in many other ways.

She participates in Gifts to the Yanks, run by the Legion and that solicits donations to pay for Christmas presents to veterans who are homebound or in nursing homes, and may not have family members. These presents include fleece jackets or blankets and sweat suits.

She works at the Fisher House at Hines, where families of hospitalized veterans can stay, and helps provide them with food, gift cards for any needs, and  personal items, such as toothbrushes.

At Hines, she also distributes personal care items to patients, including breast-screening cards to the increasing amount of women who are hospitalized. She also solicits donations or gift cards from local businesses for Hines’ wish list, such as a large-screen television to show educational materials in the waiting room. Anyone wanting to make a donation can send it to her attention at the post home.

The post and auxiliary also has solicited money to provide gift bags at welcome-home ceremonies for children of military members returning home.

The auxiliary uses proceeds from food sold from the kitchen during Monday night bingo to support Honor Flight, which flew World War I veterans to Washington D.C. for  a day of honor; scholarships for veterans and their children; creative arts rehabilitation project at Jesse Brown; pillowcase project for children of deploying troops; and holiday cards for the patients at Hines VA.

The La Grange post and auxiliary will collect blue jeans and personal care items from 4 to 9 p.m. June 4 and 11, at the post, for a Chicago-area stand down  June 15 and 16 to help homeless veterans.  Personal care items can include alcohol-free mouthwash; alcohol-free aftershave; razors; shaving cream; toothbrush with cover or case; tooth paste; body wash; shampoo and conditioners; combs; and brushes

Stand Downs typically are one- to three-day events providing services to homeless veterans such as food; shelter; clothing; health screenings; VA and Social Security benefits counseling; and referrals to a variety of other necessary services, such as housing, employment and substance abuse treatment. 

Deters  has been attending meetings about the status of a homeless shelter being built at Hines for veterans.

For six years, she has been involved with Soldiers’ Angels, started in 2003 by the mother of two soldiers to send letters and care packages to troops deployed overseas and went to an Internet community with thousands of Angels worldwide.  Deters is on the veterans support team and represent Soldiers' Angels on the Veterans Administration Volunteer Service Board at Hines VA.

Volunteers can adopt one of the many deployed at http://soldiersangels.org/adopt-a-soldier.htm

or join one of many teams to assist deployed and veterans through  http://soldiersangels.org/teams-programs.html

Deters has been an auxiliary member  for about three years. She said was became disabled, could not work, “and needed something to fill in time.”

From her schedule, it looks like she has done that.

Anyone adults wanting to volunteer at Hines can go to http://www.hines.va.gov/images/adult-volunteer-appl2012.pdf.

The adult volunteer program at Jesse Brown in Chicago is through  http://www.volunteer.va.gov/apps/volunteernow/

While the student volunteer summer program at Hines  is full for 2012, more information is available at  http://www.hines.va.gov/voluntary/docs/app_vol_student.pdf

Other important numbers, Deters said, are a veterans crisis line for veterans and their families, (800) 273-8255 (press option; and a help line for homeless veterans or veterans at risk of beign homeless and their families, (877) 424-3838.

Donations to the Hines wish list can be made through  
http://www.hines.va.gov/voluntary/docs/2nd-qtr-patneeds-2012.pdf ; Fisher House wish list  through http://www.hines.va.gov/voluntary/docs/fisher-house-wish-list.pdf