With a Little Help from My Friends: Veterans Enjoy a Day Out

The VA Hospital celebrated with Veterans Day Out (VDO) to bring a BBQ meal to all the veterans in the hospital on Saturday, July 20. This is the second VDO that American Legion Post 848 has hosted, but was the first held at the VA Hospital. Veterans from the American Legion Riders (ALR) in Perris, Moreno Valley, Riverside, and San Jacinto gathered at the VA hospital at 10 a.m. last Saturday morning to begin preparing the food they were going to serve the veterans and hospital staff later that day. The VDO organization’s intentions were to recognize the veterans and bring the festivities to those who cannot leave the hospital. “We are going to feed those who can’t get out. We are proud and thankful to do this,” said J.R. ‘Tin Man’ Tofte, president of VDO and second vice president for the ALR of San Jacinto. “I’m really happy, because this is not about anyone but vets. It’s not about one single person; we want to make sure [veterans] are not forgotten and they are recognized. That’s why we do what we do.” Tofte explained that vets are often forgotten and they often feel that way too, and that this initiative is a way of making sure that does not happen. Starting at 11 a.m., volunteers finished cooking the food which included meals of chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage links, salads, potato chips, sodas and water, and dessert provided by My Mama’s Pizza and Pasta in Hemet, shared Tofte. Soon after, volunteers began going from table to table, taking requests from the veterans who were seated outside. Once finished serving all the vets and their families who were outside, the volunteers started making their rounds inside the hospital. According to Richard Burke, occupational therapist at the VA hospital, this event is a good distraction for the vets at the hospital. According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, the State of California ranks No. 1 in veteran population, with a total of 1,918,073 living in the state as of 2011. In the Inland Empire, mainly the Loma Linda area, the population is between 56,639 to 61,321 veterans, according to the same source. David Dussing, a veteran from Palm Springs, said he came for an optometry appointment to pick up his glasses and saw the event and decided to stay. Tofte also mentioned a WWII veteran who was in attendance and said he’s still very active. “There are so many veterans that have fallen through the cracks. The government isn’t taking care of us, so we have to take care of our own. Just like the creed, you take care of your own and we believe it,” said Dave Evans, ALR President for the AL Perris post and Vice President/Financial Officer for VDO. “We want this to grow and we want more support from the community,” said Tofte. This is the second annual VDO and Tofte assures the event is growing by word of mouth, with hopes to continue the event in the future.