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Serving those who have served

The Herald - 11/24/2017

CIRCLEVILLE - For the second consecutive year, Logan Elm High School has provided a bountiful yield of support for area veterans during the season of giving. Through their efforts, along with George McDowell-Exchange Junior High School, over a ton of food was donated to the Veterans Food Bank, a branch of the Military Veterans Resource Center on Nov. 10.

Krystle Proper, Community Relations Specialist at Military Veterans Resource Center, described the efforts of the food drive by the two schools by stating, "They just did awesome."

"I know the high school said it was between $600 to $700 worth of food," Proper added, "Between Logan Elm and the George McDowell-Exchange the donations were over 2,260 pounds of food to our food bank."

Proper elaborated on the event by saying, "They had a very nice assembly, the choir sang some very patriotic songs, and they presented us with a bunch of food that they'd collected."

Proper, originally from a small town in southern Utah stated, "I just want to put a plug in for the small school pride."

"This is the second year we've received donations from Logan Elm," she added, "Last year they provided the single largest donation we received from a food drive throughout Ohio."

Military Veterans Resources Center, whose main offices are located in Columbus, has operated for nearly 20 years. According to their official site, MVRC have "helped veterans regain the self-reliance, independence and self-confidence they felt as a service member."

"We actually have a couple of different places throughout Ohio," Proper stated, "Our main office is in Columbus. We also work really closely with Pickaway County with the Veterans Service Commission."

"There are actually 800,000 veterans in the state of Ohio and roughly one out of seven are unable to feed their families," she added, "This year, we will provide over 70,000 meals to veterans and their families."

Along with their Columbus location, MVRC provides assistance to veterans throughout Ohio via their Dayton, Hamilton, and Chillicothe offices.

The collaborative efforts of MVRC in servicing the veterans of Pickaway County was described by Proper by saying, "We've worked with the Veterans Service Commission, with Margi Pettibone and Todd Huffman."

Margi Pettibone, Executive Director of Pickaway County Veterans Service Office, further described the effects the collaborate efforts of the two organizations by stating, "About a year ago, we kind of partnered with them."

"The veterans that we have, that qualify, once a month they will bring what amounts to enough for 15 meals per person," Pettibone added, "Then one or two of our drivers will take it and deliver it to the veterans that are on the program."

Todd Huffman, Veterans' Benefits Advisor at Pickaway County Veterans Service Commission and Logan Elm graduate, was credited by Pettibone as "the one that spearheaded it all."

"Todd deserves credit for his part in all of it," Pettibone added, "Logan Elm has just blown it out of the water, it was over a ton of food they collected this year."

During her interview with the Circleville Herald, Pettibone also discussed the efforts of another recent project by Ashville Elementary in conjunction with the Ashville Freedom Project. As the result of a recent drive, spearheaded by Gretchen Weiler and Jennifer Gregg, the group and students at Ashville Elementary, collected over 2,000 health and beauty items for local veterans and families in need. They also collected baby wipes and eye drops they intend to send overseas to active duty military.

"You get a family living paycheck to paycheck that maybe are having to make a decision between food, shampoo, or their medication," Pettibone stated, "Having things like this being given to them is such a relief. People take for granted the little things, and around the holidays, it's a good way to be thankful for the little things."

According to the United States Department of Veteran'sAffairs' National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, the projected numbers for county level veterans population in Pickaway County for the 2017 fiscal year is 4,131 veterans.

Along with the praise of the recent community and organizational outreach to area veterans with the food and hygiene item drives, Pettibone discussed the importance of the need for more awareness of services available locally to the men and women who have served in the various branches of the military.

"I am an U.S. Army veteran," Pettibone stated, "And it wasn't until I started working here that I even knew there was such thing as a veterans service office."

"In Ohio, we are fortunate enough, that by law, there is a veterans service office in every county. We are here to help with filing claims to the VA, financial assistance, we give transportation to and from VA appointments, medical appointments. Some people don't even realize that they have a veterans service office in every county to provide help to veterans of their county."

While lacking in knowledge of available resources can create an obvious difficulty in times of need for veterans, the act of asking for help can serve as an even greater hurdle.

Veterans may return home from military service without adequate transitional services, physical, mental or emotional wounds that may prevent or impede their ability to maintain a life of productivity and with the confidence they once held as soldiers. Often, it is difficult for veterans to ask for help in times of need, struggling unnecessarily rather than show weakness.

According to findings released on Nov. 7, by the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics report entitled The Veteran Working-Poor: The Relationship between Labor Force Activity and Poverty Status, veterans who served during the Post-9/11 Gulf War Era have the highest working-poor rate (5.5 percent) compared to those who served during either Pre-9/11 Gulf War era (4.1 percent), Vietnam Era (3.7 percent), or peacetime only (4.7 percent).

Furthermore, women are more likely than men to be among the working-poor. The working-poor rate of women Veterans (7.1 percent) was almost 3 percentage points higher than that of men Veterans (4.4 percent).

Pettibone provided advice for area veterans who may need assistance by saying, "If you need help with something, come in and talk to us."

"It may end up you may not qualify for anything through the VA," she added, "but there might be something our office can do to help you."

"Our unofficial logo here at the office is veterans helping veterans. We are here to help."