Care and Share lifts veterans' spirits

The Care and Share program is brightening Christmas for about 150 veterans served by the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center this holiday season.

The items provided by the annual event are especially meaningful for two Poplar Bluff veterans who picked up their gifts recently.

“This means a whole lot,“ said Donnell Biles. “I am not in a situation to work at the moment. It is a blessing whatever it is.”

Lotoya Halliburton (left) of the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and volunteer Mary Bader of Wappapello check items in the Care and Share boxes. DAR/Barbara Ann Horton

Biles, who served in the U.S. Army from the late 1970s through the early 1980s, is planning to have knee surgery.

Veteran Theresa Jones of Poplar Bluff served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era.

“I appreciate the Care and Share Program; everything from the food to the household aids,” Jones said.

Jones had taken a peek inside her box and knew it contained flour, which she’ll use at Christmas to “make my own chicken and dumplings.”

Jones participates in all the medical health care offered at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center. She’s watching the construction at the local facility.

“I’m going to enjoy it to the highest,” she said.

Voluntary Service Chief J. Dale Garrett said, “Our Care and Share program has been ongoing for many years. A few years ago a great community partnership grew with Home Depot as a result of their strong veterans support.

“Now, a grant application is submitted to Home Depot and for a few years now we have received $6,000 plus each year. This grant is used to purchase home cleaning and safety items for our veterans’ care packages. Further, Home Depot has brought staff to help us put the care packages together and also to hand them out.”

Simon McGuckin is the local Home Depot store manager, Garrett said, “His crew and he are phenomenal people to work with.”

Garrett explained, “We also receive support through monetary donations from individuals, businesses and veteran service organizations. The funds donated are used to purchase grocery items for the packages. Other community partnerships include the U.S. Army National Guard, who provided the use of the Poplar Bluff armory, NewWave Communications, Sierra Osage Youth Program and other individual volunteers who all come out to help put the care packages together the day before the handout.”

McGuckin explained, when the local store applied for and received the grant, it was contingent on using volunteers from the store to help.

“This is the fourth year the store has participated and we build on it every year,” McGuckin said.

This year, a dozen Home Depot volunteers not only helped pack the boxes, but also assisted recipients when they picked up the gifts.

Home Depot Foundation has pledged by 2025 to have given a half billion dollars to veterans’ projects, said McGuckin, explaining the company employs 35,000 vets or active duty workers.

Home Depot associates also volunteer, donating their time to fix roofs and other home repairs for veterans.

Garrett said, “We have given out up to 250 care packages in the past. Unfortunately, this year our applicant pool was smaller and our eligible veterans were even smaller. Maybe this is good news, as we hope many of the VA and other community programs are helping our veterans live a higher standard of living than below the federal poverty line.”

When McGuckin realized fewer veterans had applied for the Care and Share program this year, he and the other volunteers began adding more items to their shopping list.

A variety of donated items ranged from socks, laundry detergent, baking soda, tool sets, sockets, to flash lights, batteries, fire alarms and fire extinguishers.

Some of the gift boxes contained smoke detectors while others had fire extinguishers.

“We put in things we feel will be used,” McGuckin said.

Food purchased included ham, canned goods, cranberry sauce, flour, sugar, macaroni and cheese, cocoa, eggs, bread and other items with monetary donations from individuals, businesses, and veteran service organizations.

Donations to Care and Share may be made throughout the year by earmarking the donation and mailing it to the local VA medical center, said Mary Baker of Wappapello, a former medical center employee who now volunteers.

Veterans in Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, West Pains, Farmington, Salem, Pocahontas, Ark., and Paragould, Ark. will receive the Care and Share packages. Baker said, “We take it to their homes if they are not able to pick them up.”