COMMUNITY
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2021
Vietnam vets encouraged to attend virtual town hall
HERMISTON HERALD
Oregon Department of
Veterans’ Affairs Direc-
tor Kelly Fitzpatrick will
host a live virtual town
hall for Vietnam veterans
on Thursday, March 25 at
noon via Zoom.
Fitzpatrick will also be
joined by a special guest,
Renaye Murphy, executive
director of the Portland
Regional Offi ce of the Vet-
erans Benefi ts Administra-
tion (VBA).
Veterans can register
online at oregon.gov.odva/
Connect/Pages/Townhalls.
aspx.
Questions for Direc-
tor Fitzpatrick or Director
Murphy may be submit-
ted in advance by email-
ing orvetsbenefi ts@odva.
state.or.us before March
22, according to a news
release.
Registration is recom-
mended but not required.
Callers and questions will
be welcomed on a “fi rst
come, fi rst served” basis.
Live closed captioning
will be available for the
video portion of this event.
Registrants will receive a
link to the virtual event via
email.
To call in for the meet-
ing without registering,
dial 877-853-5247, and
use meeting ID 811 7856
3418. The passcode is
295308.
The live event on March
25 will cover earned ben-
efi ts and other resources
available to Vietnam vet-
erans and their families,
including disability com-
pensation, Agent Orange
exposure and presumptive
diseases, health care and
behavioral health services
— as well as more recent
changes to benefi ts such
as the Blue Water Navy
Vietnam Veterans Act of
2019.
Trained and federally
accredited veteran service
offi cers and other benefi ts
experts will be on hand to
provide direct assistance to
participants, including fi l-
ing a claim for benefi ts or
an appeal if they have been
denied previously.
In addition to providing
information, the purpose of
the event is for the direc-
tors of both agencies to
hear directly from Vietnam
veterans about their expe-
rience accessing benefi ts
and challenges they have
encountered.
Dashing
for
Diapers
Annual Diaper Dash collects
supplies for people in need
HERMISTON HERALD
The Hermiston Nazarene Church
has collected more than 70,900 dia-
pers for families in need over the past
seven years.
The church collects diapers each
year during its annual Diaper Dash
and distributes the supply to local
families and to organizations and pro-
grams that support them. This year’s
event took place on Saturday, March
6, at the church.
Usually participants in the 5K and
10K event all start together, but to
encourage social distancing partici-
pants were allowed to start their walk
or run any time between 9-11 a.m.
More than 100 people participated,
according to the church, and each
brought a large supply of diapers as
their entrance fee. Participants ranged
in age from children to senior citi-
zens and included skateboarders, dog
walkers and children riding bicycles.
According to an email from
Hermiston Nazarene Church, the
event started seven years ago when
a group of young adults from the
church asked how they could help the
community.
“We have found this to be a fun
event to get together as locals to help
our community,” the email stated.
Hermiston Church of the Nazarene/Contributed Photo
Above, runners and walkers for the annual Diaper Dash wait to register outside the Hermiston Church of the Nazarene on Saturday, March 6, 2021.
Below left, a walker participates in the event.
Church of the Nazarene/Contributed Photo
Above, participants in the annual Diaper
Dash take a photo together. At right,
runners, walkers and even a skateboarder
participate in the annual Diaper Dash,
which has collected more than 70,900
diapers for children in need over the past
seven years.
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