Volunteering for Our Vets
This guest blog was provided by The Salvation Army’s Women’s Ministries, which organizes special employee volunteer events to serve veterans in our local communities throughout the year.
The Salvation Army has a long history of supporting the United States military. During World War I, The Salvation Army famously served donuts to the troops fighting in France. Their goal was to provide warm fresh food to satisfy the physical hunger of the soldiers, but more than that, they strove to build moral, show love, and feed the spiritual hunger of the weary soldiers during that difficult time. Since that time, we have served during all major wars, and have supported our vets when they’ve come home.
This important tradition of supporting our Nation’s Armed Forces continues today. We work closely with the three VA hospitals in the Chicagoland area – Hines, Jesse Brown and Lovell Northside. Several Salvation Army officers and employees are registered Volunteer Representatives attend the quarterly meetings to stay updated on VA news and events.
The Salvation Army staff and volunteers visit each of these hospitals at least twice a year to visit with the residents, bring gifts, and sometimes provide musical entertainment or programs. In addition to our regular visits at Easter and Christmastime, we also we provided a portable kitchen/food truck (canteen) at the Hines VA Welcome Home event, serving sweets and warm drinks on that special (and very cold) day.
We also organized an Easter party complete with games, food and an Easter egg hunt. Most recently several employees went to the Fine Arts Festival to serve refreshments and help vote on the various art pieces on display.
In addition to organized activities at our local VA hospitals, the Army serves vets through programs such as Harbor Light, food pantries, Evangeline Booth emergency family shelter, worship services, and more.
This Memorial Day holiday, we remember and thank the brave Americans who fought and died for our freedom and safety.
Discover the many ways The Salvation Army serves those who served our country at salvationarmyusa.org. To support The Salvation Army programs and services, you can make a donation or volunteer your time.