HELENA — Red Cross of Montana delivered more than 1,200 items to the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center. These items will help support the veteran community throughout Montana.
“Our veterans are so appreciative. They come into Fort Harrison and we are able to give them food and items and their faces light up,” says Jeni Leary, Director of Behavioral Health Outreach Programs at Montana VA.
The more than a thousand items will be used to enhance the lives of veterans in the state. The donations include shirts, underwear, shorts, pants, brushes, combs, and other similar items.
These donations will be going to a plethora of different programs. Items like clothing will go to veterans who have faced houselessness, while items such as Leather craft kits will be used to strengthen a VA recreational therapy program.
“Some of the different programs that will be receiving things will be our rec therapy program, our EUL housing unit, our homeless veteran program, our women’s veteran program, and then some of our general lending closets, as well,” says Amy Claridge, Chief for Center for Development and Civic Engagement of the Montana VA.
The VA has partnered with the Red Cross of Montana to help support veterans. The VA tells the Red Cross what the needs are and the Red Cross buys those items with money allocated from the Department of Defense.
“...and we really just can't appreciate or thank the Red Cross enough because, with these times of COVID-19, donations have really been down. So, this is just really going to help us boost our supplies and help support a lot of veterans in need,” says Claridge.
If you’d like to give to the Red Cross, you can donate online here: https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/