My theme for 2022-2023 is “Volunteers are only a Hug away”.
Thank you to all our volunteers who have been able to get back to volunteering in the hospitals and those who are caring for Veterans in other ways. All are important to our ongoing mission to Veterans.

The 2022-23 volunteer reporting window will be ending on March 31. All hours volunteered should be sent to me or Department by the end of April. Hours not submitted by then will go on 2023-24 totals. I have not received a lot of hours so far for this year.

Remember, hospital hours are counted for hours that you volunteer at a Veteran’s hospital or CBOC. Service to Veterans hours are counted for hours you volunteer at a Veteran’s home, hours you volunteer to help a Veteran, send cards, make quilts for or take to appointments, etc. There are lots of ways to earn Service to Veteran hours. Don’t forget that caregivers can count 10 hours a week for Service to Veterans, too.

As volunteers, we help make a Veteran’s life ‘bear’able. They are important and we are too.

My theme for 2022-2023 is “Volunteers are only a Hug away”.

As the VA’s and CBOCS begin to allow more volunteers into their facilities, we need to remind our members of these opportunities to serve. Check with your facility to make sure we have the most current update on their policy. I would like the Reps to send me the current volunteer policy of their facility along with the name of your current chief. Continue to send your worksheets to me. If you want to send them to me via email that is fine. Let me know and I will send a copy to you. Any hours for 2021-2022 that I received after the cut off have been added to the 2022-2023 database. I ask that you send your hours in during the year and not all at once. Last year I received duplicate hour sheets which added to some confusion on my part, so please keep track of the hour sheets you send. I really would like volunteers to put down the facility they serve on the hour sheets and describe some of things they do to help at the facility. My awards remain the same as last year for those who report the most service hours at a VA facility and to a volunteer at an Illinois Veterans Home, except I will issue citations for years of service in increments of 5 years. I do not have all the details worked out in my head yet, but information will be in the ALA Today.

Service to Veterans is a growing way to serve veterans because it can be things you do at home or on a one-on-one basis. If you are making quilts or hats or whatever, please put that on your worksheet. If you make meals or take a veteran to a doctor appointment, tell me that. Please be specific in the description area. If you are a caregiver, please put that on your worksheet. My awards are the same as last year. Volunteers who report most hours of service as a junior and a senior. Veterans appreciate all we do for them, and ALA also appreciates your service. We know our service is not because of any award we might receive, but because of our love for our veterans, family and community.

We hope that our Veterans know that “Volunteers are only a Hug away”.