How to help• What: Food drive for veterans• Where: Drop off at the Chattanooga Vet Center, 951 Eastgate Loop• When: Open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Donations will be accepted through Dec. 19.
Phillip Elliott runs his hands along the walls at the Chattanooga Vet Center, pointing out how high the boxes of donations stacked up last year. The boxes of canned food and macaroni reached to his waist, down the hallway and around the corner.
He hopes for the same this year as the Vet Center kicks off its annual food drive to help struggling military veterans around the holidays. Food, gift cards and gas cards will be accepted at the Vet Center, 951 Eastgate Loop, through Dec. 19. Elliott is a readjustment counseling therapist at the center, which helps veterans readjust after coming home from active duty.
"We're part of the first line for them as they get back into town,"
People might assume veterans are taken care of after their time serving. But Elliott said many come back from active duty to find their jobs no longer available, or families who are in debt. And those who return ill or injured face the daunting bureaucracy of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which can often mean trips to Nashville, Murfreesboro and Atlanta for treatment.
Among other services, the Vet Center provides individual readjustment counseling, sexual trauma counseling, marital and family counseling and benefits assistance.
And Elliott says the center, which currently serves about 525 vets, grows busier all the time as the military continues a massive draw-down of forces after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I think we're busier now than we've been in the past five to six years," Elliott said. "A lot of them are being pushed out of the military. And the military has never been really strong with helping these transitions."
He said the center will distribute proceeds of the annual food drive directly to veterans.
One Army veteran, who asked not to be named, said the generosity of donors is welcome relief this time of year.
"It means a lot," she said. "You never know how much people care about you until you're in need."
The woman, who was injured while serving abroad in the 1980s, is disabled and goes to the Vet Center once a month for counseling. She said she's working to get service-related disability compensation and appreciates the help of both the center and generous givers.
"Sometimes I wonder how I'm going to make ends meet," she said. "But when I reach out to people, they're always willing. It's a blessing to me. There are people out there who love you; you just have to let them know."
Contact staff writer Kevin Hardy at khardy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.