MLES Student Council Book Drive collects more than 3,600 books
It was quite a “library” that members of DAV (Disabled American Veterans)-Chapter 15 of New Ulm picked up at Mountain Lake Public Elementary School’s library on Wednesday afternoon, January 27. In fact, they did not have enough storage space in which take all of the boxed up books with them back to New Ulm. A return trip is needed to collect the remaining books received from this area.
The Mountain Lake Public Elementary School (MLES) Student Council’s Book Drive for the DAV (Disabled American Veterans)-Chapter 15 of New Ulm collected a (truly) grand total of 3,634 books for the unit’s use. A variety of books were collected – hard cover, paperback, damaged, unused, no longer wanted, dictionaries, encyclopedias, hymnals, college and school textbooks, children’s books, cookbooks and telephone books.
Members from the New Ulm DAV came equipped with van and trailer, to load up the collected stash – with MLES Student Council officers and representatives – along with Co-Advisors Annette Kunkel and Amy Hartzler – doing the lifting, toting and transporting of the boxed books from the room in which they have been stored to the waiting trailer.
The New Ulm DAV takes the donated books (along with clothing, shoes and miscellaneous other collections) to the Saver’s Warehouse in Rochester. Saver’s is a thrift store chain with approximately 12 stores in the state and many more scattered around the country. The Rochester location sifts through the items and designates them to either be resold on the shelves of their stores – or recycled. The DAV, meanwhile, is paid by the pound for their collecting work.
The money raised goes directly to their Veteran’s Fund. This is one of the group’s ongoing fundraising efforts in support of a van that transports veterans to medical appointments, to purchase wheelchairs for disabled veterans, to provide financial support to veterans on a limited basis by purchasing groceries and gas and to assist vets in finding a job and a place to live.
The members of the New Ulm DAV also provided a short program for the student council members, including sharing about the history of the DAV and its programs for disabled veterans of all the military services – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.
One of the group’s members is a resident of Mountain Lake, Marlin Peterson, and he took the lead in the presentation. Other New Ulm DAV members who made the trip to pick up the books were Duane “Doc” Ellanson and Roy Janni. In support of their fellow veterans, a quartet from Mountain Lake American Legion Post #389 were on hand observe the book pickup. The four included Gerhard Quiring, Jerry Logue, Bob Minion and Joe Grant.
About the DAV of Minnesota
The Disabled American Veterans of Minnesota is membership group made up of women and men who have been disabled in our nation’s defense.
They are dedicated to one clear mission – to better the lives of Minnesota’s disabled veterans and their families.
They employ a variety of strategies to help achieve this mission:
+ Free, professional assistance to veterans and their families in obtaining benefits and services earned through military service and provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and other agencies of government.
+ Outreach concerning its program services to the American people generally and to disabled veterans and their families specifically.
+ Represent the interests if disabled veterans, their families, their widowed spouses and their orphans before Congress, the White House and the Judicial Branch, as well as state and local government.
+ Extend DAV’s mission of hope into the communities where these veterans and their families live through a network of state-level Departments and local Chapters.
+ Provide a structure through which disabled veterans can express their compassion for their fellow veterans through a variety of volunteer programs.
Formed in 1920 and chartered by Congress in 1932, the Disabled American Veterans is the official voice of America’s service-connected disabled veterans – a strong, insistent voice that represents Minnesota’s disabled veterans, their families and survivors.
When the troops came home from World War I, 300,000 carried grim reminders of war – disabling injuries, battle scars, gas-seared lungs, and prolonged illnesses. Following a tumultuous hero’s welcome, America wiped the horror of war from its mind almost as quickly as the ticker tape was swept from the streets of New York City. The nation’s makeshift response to the needs of its disabled heroes soon broke down. These angry young veterans took matters into their own hands, starting local self-help groups that soon merged to become the DAV.
Since then, in Minnesota chapters, including Chapter 15 in New Ulm – as well as other chapters across the nation – including the national DAV, have served as the official voice of America’s service-connected disabled veterans – a strong, insistent voice that represents all of America’s three million disabled veterans, their families and survivors. Today, there are 1.3 million disabled vets to represent, including many women – who today comprise one-in-seven in military service.
The DAV’s network of services – free of charge to all veterans and members of their families – is totally supported by membership dues and charitable contributions from the American public.
For more information, go to http://www.davmn.org/.
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