Pictured, Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary (DAVA) Chaplain Shirley Plahovinsak (left) presents a check from the DAV Department of Ohio for $2,275 to Georgetown Ohio Veterans Home (OVH) Administrative Assistant Sarah Flint (right). The check will provide a $25.00 stipend to the 91 veterans residing at the Georgetown OVH. A similar DAV Department of Ohio check for $7,525.00 is being presented at the Sandusky OVH for a $25.00 stipend for each of the 301 veterans residing at that facility. Photo courtesy Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary Unit #63 (Clermont County).
The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio will be surprising the ninety-one (91) veterans residing at the Southern Ohio Veterans Home in Georgetown with an early Christmas gift in July.
The DAV Department’s Finance Committee decided to provide each veteran with a cash stipend of $25.00 to be added to their individual accounts at the Veterans Home. This will occur during July of 2024, during the Home’s Activity Theme of “Veteran’s Christmas in July.”
State DAV Auxiliary Chaplain, Shirley Plahovinsak, presented a check for $2,275.00 to the Veterans Home’s Administrative Assistant Sarah Flint on May 30, 2024.
“It was my honor to present the DAV Department of Ohio’s check for these deserving veterans in supporting their Christmas in July activity,” said Chaplain Shirley Plahovinsak, also a certified Volunteer at the Home.
At a similar time, DAV State Commander Jacob Drost will be presenting a Department check for $7,525.00 to the three hundred and one (301) veterans residing at the Northern Ohio Veterans Home in Sandusky, Ohio.
“Each veteran residing at the Sandusky facility will also receive the same $25.00 stipend to be added to their account,” explained Chaplain Plahovinsak, who also serves as the DAVA Unit #63 (Clermont County) Commander.
In 2023, the DAV Department of Ohio had provided the Georgetown Home with a donation of $12,000 to renovate a 190-foot bridge span over a small ravine. “This was done strictly as a safety measure,” explained Raymond Hutchinson, a member of the Department’s Finance Committee.
“The Department always believes in supporting our veterans at the Southern Ohio Veterans Home, and so does DAV Chapter #63 (Clermont County),” said Hutchinson. “Last year, our Chapter provided a $12.00 stipend. We intend to vote on a similar stipend at our Chapter’s June monthly meeting.”
“Providing a cash stipend is an easy and appropriate way to show veterans that we appreciated their service to our country and that we remember them,” commented Plahovinsak.
“The stipend is placed in each veteran’s Home Account and they could purchase what they want or need at the Home or have a staff person buy the item for them,” concluded the DAVA Unit Commander.
“Some of our veterans arrive at the Veterans Home with just the bare necessities,” explained Administrative Assistant Flint. “The stipend method is the easiest way to ensure that the veterans receive what they actually want or need.”