Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter #63 (Clermont County) Member Michael Newman (left) presents three (3) checks for $500.00 each to Southern Ohio Veterans Home (OVH) Volunteer Committee Coordinator Hannah Hopper. The three (3) checks, totaling $1,500.00, cover all the expense for providing Special Meal Dinners for three (3) days to all the residents of the Southern Ohio Veterans (OVH) in Georgetown. Photo courtesy Disabled American Veterans.
During July, September and October of 2022, Special Dinner Meals were provided by the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio for all the residents of the Southern Ohio Veterans Home in Georgetown. This program was started over eleven (11) years ago by the former DAV Department of Ohio Hospital Chairman Ray Hutchinson.
“The veterans at the Home enjoy Special Meals, like pork cutlets, pot roast with mashed potatoes and shrimp, and I thought that the DAV could provide them,” explained the former Hospital Chairman. “We worked it out with the food service personnel at the Home and decided to sponsor five (5) Special Dinners per year, paid for by the DAV Department.”
The sum of $2,500 was budgeted in the DAV’s Department’s Working Budget for 2022-2023, as it was in previous years. “We coordinated the meals with the staff of the OVH and we tried to provide the food that the residents like to eat.”
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, volunteers from Chapter #63 would visit with the residents while they ate the Special Meal. “However, after the pandemic occurred, volunteers were not allowed to mingle with the veterans while they ate,” said Hutchinson.
“We will be sponsoring two (2) additional Special Dinners for the veterans in March and May of 2023, to complete our fiscal year,” concluded Hutchinson. “Hopefully, by then we will be allowed to visit with them while they eat and enjoy their company.”