6A | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS
VETS from page 1A
information or answers to
other service-related issues,
and local vets were often un-
able to see a VSO in a timely
manner.
The county currently sends
one VSO to Florence one day
a week. The travel time to
and from Eugene is included
in the VSO’s work day, mean-
ing perhaps seven hours of
available time for vets that
live in Florence, each week.
However, this availability
of VSO’s is about to change
as the county has been able
to adjust the scheduling and
will increase in the days and
times vets can see a VSO in
Florence, according to Reiley.
These changes were a direct
result of Reiley’s meeting
with Florence vets.
“I’m happy to report that
our Veteran Services budget
has a projected surplus from
state veteran pass-through
funding and we have deter-
mined that we are be able to
internalize the costs of the
increase in services to Flor-
ence for the remainder of
this fiscal year and for next
fiscal year,” he said. “Due to
weather impacts the last cou-
ple of weeks, your VSO is yet
to actually go out to Florence
twice a week, but he should
be out there this week on
both Tuesday and Thursday.
We’re really hoping that this
will address the need in West
Lane County but obviously
will be gathering data in or-
der to plan on how to best
move forward.”
Jerry Hernandez is the
head of the Florence Chapter
of the Disabled America Vet-
erans (DAV) and he believes
the change will mean a lot to
local vets.
“It’s important because the
veterans we have in town
had to be there at 4 or 5 in
the morning to sign up, then
they would have to go home
and wait for a call, if the VSO
had time to see them,” he
said. “Our veterans are get-
ting older and this means we
can see more vets and help
them with their paperwork
or medical issues that have
come up for them.”
The news of the increase
was well received at Mon-
day’s meeting by the Band of
Brothers, which is a collec-
tion of retired vets from all
five services that have come
together to assist where
needed in Florence and the
surrounding communities.
The group represents lo-
cal Veterns of Foreign Wars
(VFW), American Legion
and DAV that served from
WWII to the most current
conflicts in the Middle East
and Afghanistan.
The discussion at the
weekly meetings often center
around the latest local group
that has approached the
Brothers for assistance.
Many of the “Brothers” are
also members of the Florence
Elks Lodge and this connec-
tion is central to the work
they do in both raising and
distributing tens of thou-
sands of dollars to organiza-
tions and individuals, all year
long.
The assistance provided by
this grizzled group of former
soldiers depends on what the
situation calls for.
Last year, there was a need
expressed by the Siuslaw
School District for a way to
keep emergency supplies
stored at school facilities
dry and usable. The national
focus on preparedness had
brought attention to the un-
acceptable conditions the
emergency supplies were in
at the district and the money
to accomplish this important
project was not in the bud-
get.
The Brothers decided to
help and collected the mon-
ey through various ways, in-
cluding poppy flower sales,
bake sales and donations.
Then, members designed a
series of storage cabinets that
held water proof tubs and
installed them at the middle
Members of Band of
Brothers and Ladies of Elks
were given coins as a show
of appreciation from U.S.
Coast
Guard
Station
Siuslaw River.
school.
They then built these cab-
inets, from scratch, and in-
stalled them. There is now
a viable system in place that
will store water and food
for the students at all three
schools in case of a natural
disaster.
When a talented local stu-
dent musician was presented
with the opportunity to trav-
el to Europe to perform and
learn, the Brothers, wives and
friends raised much of the
$7,5000 needed to make the
trip.
The most recent example
of the type of work being
done by the Brothers is ser-
vice related, an area for which
all of the vets have a special
affinity. The challenge was
in helping fellow service per-
sonnel get through the feder-
al government shutdown.
The answer from the per-
spective of the 100 or so men
and women that make up the
Brothers was simple:
Raise some money to help.
The decision to financial-
ly support Coast Guard Sta-
tion Siuslaw River during the
shutdown was agreed upon
and the Brothers, along with
their support team from the
Elks Lodge, started raising
money.
More than $50,000 was
collected through the many
local efforts throughout the
area to support the Coast
Guard, and was used to help
servicemen and women and
their families stationed along
Oregon’s coast.
The end result of these ef-
forts was so significant that
this Monday, Senior Chief
Joseph J. Nilles, Officer in
Charge of Station Siuslaw
River, presented members of
the Brothers and Elks with
medallions from the Chief
Petty Officers Association
thanking them for their as-
sistance during this difficult
time.
“What it comes down to
is the community of Flor-
ence — folks like yourself —
teamed up to help us make it
through six weeks of a pretty
miserable time,” Nilles said.
“It was the crews and the
families and the wives and
kids that didn’t know where
food was going to come from,
where fuel was going to come
from, and many of you in this
room — and many outside
this room — stepped up and
came together to help us.”
Nilles shared stories that
made clear that the shutdown
could have been far worse
if not for the efforts of the
Brothers and the larger Flor-
ence area community.
“One glorious day I was
able to walk into the station
and thanks to your hard
work I was able to hand
every single person an en-
velope. Inside every one of
these envelopes was $300,”
Niles said, visibly moved by
the memory. “There is no
place I would rather be in the
Coast Guard during this time
than Florence.”
Nilles
received
a
long-standing ovation from
the Brothers and the group
then turned their attention
to the next assistance project
the group should undertake.
Rod McCulloch
Karla D. Holloway
CPA
CPA
ay
w
o
l
l
Rick Yecny,
CPA
& A s s o c i
e s
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EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS
Living on Shaky Ground:
Prepare-Survive-Recover
A WLEOG Public Outreach Program
Sponsored by West Lane Emergency Operations Group
Web address: www.wleog.org
Dealing with Disaster
NOW YOU CAN LEARN
HOW TO PREPARE FOR
EMERGENCIES AND DISASTERS -
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Go to WLEOG.ORG and click on
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**SAFE WATER, SAFE SANITATION
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In addition to the classes, the WLEOG.ORG web-
site has extremely useful information on NATURAL
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Each of these has videos on various topics that
explain the hazards the Pacifi c Northwest faces, and
how to prepare for them.
For more information, visit these websites:
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W
e often consider the physical dangers of emergencies – injuries from flying
debris or car crashes, for example – but can overlook the mental impact associ-
ated with such incidents.
Crisis situations can result in loss
of loved ones, debilitating injuries
or traumatic stress that can change
lives forever. And because these
events are few and far between,
they can be hard to deal with when
they occur. Experts urge people of
all ages who may be experiencing
psychological distress as a result of
natural disaster or incident of mass
violence to seek the help of trained
and caring professionals.
• Drinking alcohol,
smoking or using
tobacco more than
usual.
• Using illegal drugs.
• Eating too much or
too little.
• Not connecting with
others.
• Rejecting of help.
HOTLINE HELP
SAMHSA has set up a
THE SIGNS
free hotline to assist
The Substance Abuse and Mental United States citizens
Health Services Administration
dealing with a traumat-
(SAMHSA) identifies the following
ic event in their lives.
physical and emotional reactions as The hotline is staffed
being warning signs for seeking
by trained counsel-
ors from a network
professional assistance.
of crisis call centers located across
• Irregular sleeping patterns.
• Painful stomachaches or head-
the U.S. They are trained to provide
crisis counseling for those who are
aches.
in emotional distress caused by any
• Anger or edgy attitudes.
• Overwhelming sadness.
natural or human-caused disaster,
• Increased worry or guilt.
information on how to recognize
distress and its effects on individu-
• Lack of energy or always feeling
tired.
als and families, and tips for healthy
coping. The hotline’s counselors can
also provide referrals to local crisis
call centers.
The confidential and multilingual
hotline is available via telephone
(1-800-985-5990) and SMS (Text
‘TalkWithUs’ to 66746).
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