There's around $110,000 in scholarships up for grabs for youth who volunteer to help veterans in their communities.
“Anything you can think of that’s of service to veterans and their families, whether it’s raking leaves, cleaning a gutter, painting a barn, simply mowing the grass or spending some time with a veteran and giving his caregiver some respite," Minter said.
The DAV gives out 10 scholarships every year to youth who give back to veterans with at least 100 hours of volunteering.
“It’s exciting to know these kids are giving of their time to veterans and their families,” said Ron Minter, assistant director of volunteer services for Disabled American Veterans (DAV).
For the first time since the pandemic the Cincinnati VA Medical Center is now reopening its youth volunteer program.
“Youth volunteers are an integral part of the medical care team at our facility,” said Nicole Comer, chief of volunteer services for the Cincinnati VA Medical Center.
Volunteers can help with a wide range of activities from transporting and washing golf carts to greeting veterans and their family when they enter the medical facility.
“We have a red coat ambassador program they greet people at the front door and help guests get to their appointments help veterans and their families where they need to go,” said Jamie White with CVAMC Volunteer Services.
Volunteers can also help make welcome bags and perform other administrative duties as part of their services.
Loveland High School graduate Evan Osgood is on his way to the University of Pennsylvania to study computer science and business. He won DAV’s top scholarship of $30,000 in 2022 to help pay for his education.
During the pandemic Osgood saw a need tied to mask mandates and the shortage issues as it pertains to Personal Protective Equipment or PPE. He launched a nationwide campaign to help with the issue.
“We would gather all these materials for these masks face shields things like that and then people would sign up to build them and we would ship the materials and then they would get to build them and donate locally in their communities,” Osgood said.
He has already applied a second time for the DAV scholarship.
“(Volunteer) hours must be accredited through DAV or DAV Auxiliary,” said Minter.
He said the DAV local chapters also have connections to veterans and their needs, in order to to connect volunteers with ways to help.
If you’d like to volunteer you can reach out to the Cincinnati VA Medical Center or the DAV.
If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email homefront@wcpo.com. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.
