Ancient Order of Hibernians/Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 51 – Fishtown will be holding their 6th Armed Forces Weekend this Saturday (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Sunday (Noon to 6 p.m.) at the Thriftway Supermarket at Aramingo & York.
The division will collect canned goods (vegetables, meat, fish, soup, gravies, etc.), non-perishable items (rice, pasta, cereals, etc.), personal grooming items (disposable razors, bar soap, shampoo, etc.), as well as cash donations.
It all goes to the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service & Education Center in Old City. The Center feeds an average of 75 – 100 homeless veterans on a daily basis, as well as providing them with other basic services.
Every little bit helps.
Here’s what the division’s Phil Bowdren has to say.
AOH/LAOH 51 has been running this event for five years. You’re going into your sixth year. Where’d the idea come from? Was it tied into the Iraq/Afghanistan conflict?
Actually, it was suggested to the Division by a member who has volunteered at the Center. It really wasn’t tied into the Iraq conflict, just the need that the Center had.
Does the division have some connection with the Center?
Like I said, the Center was suggested to us. It ties into our efforts with the Hibernian Hunger Project because what we collect helps to feed homeless veterans. Since we began our effort, I was asked to join the Center’s Board of Directors, also, the Center’s CEO, Ed Lowry, has since joined our Division.
Have you all had an opportunity to see firsthand how your event might be benefiting local vets?
A number of us have volunteered to help at the Center with their Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for the Homeless Vets. We’ve helped serve them a hot meal, and we’ve seen and heard how much they appreciate it. If it wasn’t for the Center most of these men and women would not get a hot meal or the opportunity to get a shower or put on clean clothes.
What do you need most?
As for what is needed most, I always tell people bulk food containers (#10 cans of vegetables, etc., and 1-, 25 or 50 lb. bags of rice, pasta, etc.), more bang for the buck with bulk packaging.
What should people bring?
People can bring any canned goods, non-perishable foods (rice, oatmeal, pasta, etc.) and there is always a need for personal grooming items (disposable razors, bars of bath soap, mouthwash, etc.). If anyone has contacts with companies that sell / distribute either sample size or travel size items, and they can get some cases of these items donated, it would be great.
What’s the most you’ve gotten in a single donation, and do you remember from whom? I mean, a particular school, organization, what have you?
A few come to mind… Becky & Joe Minarik from the neighborhood have always donated big bags of rice and #10 cans of vegetables; Judge Pat Dugan, who is an Iraq Veteran, donated an entire shopping cart full of food. And both AOH Divisions 22 and 25 have dropped off bags of food in the past.
Does it bother you that veterans should require charity? Put another way, we’ve expected these folks to risk their lives for us—so shouldn’t they be entitled to benefits of the sort that the Veterans Multi-Service Center provides?
The Veterans Center is a private non-profit organization, which USED to get funding from the City, State and Feds for particular programs, but for one reason or another the funding dried up a great deal. We received a $600,000 grant from Senator Santorum a while ago, only to have the Labor Department cut funding to the Center by $500,000, so in actuality, we only received $100,000 from the Feds.
The Street Administration cut a lot of our funding that helped us get the homeless vets of the street during the day and into the Center. The Center was forced to sell one of its 12-passenger vans because of the cost of insurance.
Once I was told by an “enlightened” person that they didn’t believe that there was such a thing as homeless veterans. I offered to take her out and introduce her to some, the offer was declined.
I have sent a number of letters to President Bush complaining that instead of cutting veterans benefits, the government needs to not only increase them, but expand them to the families of returning Iraq veterans. These people need to know 1) what to expect of their returning vet, and 2) what to look out for as far as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is concerned. And YES, it bothers the hell out of me.
