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VA Hospital gives soldiers early holiday

  • Published
  • By Connie Hempel
  • 17th Training Wing Public Affairs
GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  They're helping veterans everyday in their facility but their care goes beyond the hospital. Staff at the West Texas VA Medical Center in Big Spring, Texas, and the Big Spring community teamed up in June to give deployed servicemembers an unexpected holiday with Operation Soldier Holiday 2010.

Although the program is in its sixth year, it is new to Big Spring, but the team was able to collect almost 300 care packages in just three weeks.

Dr. Brian Phemester, Chief of Ambulatory Care, said he started the program when he was working at a VA Hospital in Orlando, but decided to make the program grow when he moved to Big Spring.

"After hearing some of the veterans express how great it was to receive a care package during their deployment, I wanted to make sure that servicemembers who are deployed now could enjoy a care package any day, not just during a holiday," he said.

This year, VA staff went above and beyond during the three weeks of collection by holding bake sales, special sporting events and even jewelry sales in exchange for donations.

Each package contains almost $50 worth of non-perishable food items, hygiene items, movies, games and even calling cards. Dr. Phemester said 90 percent of the boxes came from hospital staff and the rest from the local community.

Cheryl Justice, West Texas VA Health Care System clinical application coordinator, said participating in the program made her feel good because she knows first-hand what a difference it makes for servicemembers to receive things from home.

"I jumped on board with the program because my father did three tours in Vietnam and I remember as a child our family sending items to him," she said. "He would send us letters back saying how much it meant to him to get little things from home."

Ms. Justice said the program reaffirms the hospital's commitment to military members and to the VA motto, "To care for him who shall have borne the battle."

Volunteers from Goodfellow AFB, through coordination with the Airman and Family Readiness Center, also had a hand in the program by making sure the packages got to deployed personnel. More than 10 volunteers from base spent June 29 loading and transporting the packages from Big Spring to Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas, where they will be airlifted to deployed areas.

"We hope to ceate a partnership between the VA, Dyess and Goodfellow to do this twice a year," said Edward Gavagan, Goodfellow AFB, Airman and Family Readiness Center.