Members of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) organization gathered this month at the Lake Baldwin VA Medical Center to donate a 7-passenger vehicle and golf cart to the Orlando VA Health Care System (OVAHCS).
The vehicle will be utilized by volunteer drivers who participate in the OVAHCS Volunteer Transportation Network program to assist Veterans with transportation needs to and from their medical appointments, and the golf cart will be utilized by OVAHCS volunteers to assist Veterans into the medical center from the parking lot.
“We are extremely grateful to Veteran service organizations like the DAV for their partnership in helping us provide these needed services to Veterans,” said Health System Director, Mr. Timothy J. Cooke. “It is organizations like the DAV that help us ensure that Veterans receive the very best health care possible.”
The OVAHCS’s Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE) manages a volunteer and donation-based program with approximately 576 volunteers who work in various areas throughout the organization, 14 of which are part of the volunteer transportation network that drive Veterans to and from their medical appointments.
“Our volunteers help with assignments such as manning information desks, providing directional assistance, sitting at a Veteran’s bedside to read to them or comfort them, and more,” said OVAHCS Acting Chief, Cristina Mercado Acevedo. “Our volunteers are a dynamic group of individuals that come from all walks a life.”
The OVAHCS recruits volunteers year-round. For more information on how to become a volunteer or make a donation, please contact the CDCE office at the Orlando VA Medical Center by calling 407-631-0135, the Lake Baldwin VA Medical Center at: 407-646-5070, the Viera VA Outpatient Clinic at: 321-637-3611, the Daytona Beach Multispecialty Clinic at: 386-323-7500 ext. 37711, or by emailing: [email protected].
Pictured in photo: David Madeux, OVAHCS Voluntary Service Specialist; Richard Tolfa, volunteer transportation network driver; Cristina Mercado Acevedo, OVAHCS Acting Chief, Center for Development and Civic Engagement; Andy Marshall, DAV National Commander; Dennis Jayner, DAV Chapter 16 member; and Laymand Rose, Junior Vice Commander, DAV Chapter 16.
