Happy New Year to all!

A brief reflection on 2023 tells a story of a generous community that supports our veterans in so many ways. In February, the Topsham American Legion held their Winter Classic, a softball tournament in the snow, that raised about $40,000 to support Maine Veterans in Need (MVN). A few months ago I ran a four-part series that talked about the need to help veterans who have emergency needs that is available 24/7 and can operate “immediately” without red tape.  Throughout 2023, MVN provided that immediate support to 117 veterans and the year isn’t over. As an FYI, both the Topsham and the Damariscotta American Legion will be holding this Winter Classic again in February to support MVN.

Maine V.E.T.S. continues to get community support with more trailers being built all year and trailers going to veterans who would otherwise be living in tents or their cars. Just this week, a veteran contacted MVN because he lost everything when his house on the Strong River was flooded in the recent storm. MVN reached out to Ed Harmon (V.E.T.S. president) and within 24 hours Ed had a trailer on the veteran’s property, a two-hour drive away! MVN provided food and gas gift cards to help as well.

News Center Maine held their annual Honor Flight Maine telethon raising a record $221,000 that will enable 250 veterans to take part in their trips to D.C. in 2024. In 2023, HFM went over 1,000 veterans from Maine who made this trip.

The Veteran Banner Project, led by Jim Singer, was a huge success as we all saw with the banners honoring our area’s veterans hung on our telephone poles through Veterans Day. Many more will be hung in 2024. These are just a few of the many ways this community has demonstrated their support for all veterans this past year. So, thank you! 

Recently, actually on Nov. 30, I learned that veterans who are in the VA healthcare system are eligible to have the VA pay for their YMCA membership. Just to check it out, I used MyHealtheVet to request my VA Primary Care Doctor for a referral to the VA Recreational Therapy Department for a YMCA membership. Their immediate response was that I would be eligible if I would commit to actually using it! Shortly after that, I got a call from the State YMCA asking which YMCA I wanted to join, and I said the Boothbay Region Y, of course. Then last week I went to the Y and got my membership card … actually the card was for the family as well. Initially, there was a minimum number of VA supported memberships available. But, it apparently has opened up. Just as a suggestion, if you are interested, I would go through this process sooner rather than later. You just never know when they might stop this great benefit. 

Thank you all for making 2023 a great year and we look forward to your continued support and generosity in 2024!