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Volunteer drivers needed for Youngstown VA clinic
YOUNGSTOWN
The volunteer transportation program at the Youngstown Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic is about veterans helping veterans.
On Friday, the program got a big boost in the form of a $39,000, 12-passenger van donated by the Mahoning County Disabled American Veterans Chapter 2.
The timing of the gift could not have been more perfect, said J. Lori Stone, volunteer liaison for the VA Clinic at 2031 Belmont Ave.
The other two vans in service, provided by the DAV and American Legion, have 220,000 and 190,000 miles and carry only eight passengers each, including the driver. The new van will carry 11 passenger plus the driver, Stone said.
The Youngstown VA Clinic provides a variety of medical services on a daily basis, but many people have to be referred to the Cleveland VA Medical Center’s Wade Park Campus for medical appointments and treatment, Stone said.
For many veterans who live on small, fixed incomes, often many miles from the nearest VA medical center, and must rely on private transportation, the van service is critical and very much appreciated, she said.
The mission of the national DAV’s transportation is to ensure that no individual who has served the nation and sacrificed limb, eyesight, or good health is denied proper medical care because he or she cannot reach a VA facility.
Printed on the side of the new van is the DAV motto: “Fulfilling our promises to the men and women who served.”
This is a one-time deal for Chapter 2, said its commander, Bill Pacak, who said the organization used money from the sale of property and donations to finance the van.
“I’m elated. We waited a long time for this,” said Pacak, who served in the Marine Corps from 1967 to 1969 during the Vietnam War, including 1968 in-country.
Also pleased with having another van in the fleet are the volunteer drivers who transport veterans to medical appointments Monday through Thursday.
“It’s a perfect opportunity to help veterans,” said Larry Bartolin of Hartford, who has been driving a VA van about once a week for eight years.
“I think veterans should help veterans. When we were in [the military], we had each other’s back, and I think that’s what we should still do,” said Bartolin, who served in the Army in Vietnam in 1971.
“I feel we have a responsibility to veterans,” said volunteer driver Ray Courtney of Columbiana, an Army Vietnam War veteran who served in-country in 1967 and 1968.
The key to the success of the program is the volunteer drivers, Stone said.
She said anyone with a good driving record who is interested in being a volunteer VA van driver can call her at 330-740-9200, ext. 1563.