Brittany Kelley
KYLE — The Kyle VFW 12058 is expanding its efforts to aid the community with a disaster team vehicle.
Steve Cook, quartermaster of the VFW, shared that the opportunity stemmed from the nonprofit's community closet, which began three years ago and offers clothing and other items to those in need. He explained that each year, he would send out a survey regarding the closet and ask what the biggest need is. The response was always that those in need can’t be served, whether due to lack of vehicle transport or fear of asking.
So, when the American Red Cross reached out and asked if they would be interested in a disaster team vehicle, the VFW immediately said yes.
The van, which was donated to the VFW, will be equipped with food through partnerships with restaurants, clothing from community donations and other basic necessities to respond to families in need when disasters strike, said Andrea Acosta, external government operations coordinator for Red Cross.
“It’s pretty awesome. The whole outside will be wrapped and then, the inside will all be redone to fit what we’re doing — the clothes, the food, we’ll have a little generator,” said Cook.
Those that will be operating the vehicle are certified and trained by Red Cross, said Cook, as members of the VFW have already been responding to various disasters, such as the flooding that occurred in Kerville last July.
Despite many members being veterans, Cook emphasized that anyone can take the courses, get certified and be part of the response teams.
“Everything we do here, you don’t have to be a veteran,” he explained. “[About] 50% of the people that make this program are not veterans. If the community wants to get involved or if they want to ride out with us on this providing food, it’s absolutely open to everybody. Everything we do at this post is open to the community.”
Although the courses are online through Red Cross, Cook shared that because they will be receiving the vehicle soon, he aims to have in-house classes at the facility.
When the van is not responding to disasters, Cook hopes to use it for community outreach, such as parking in neighborhoods and setting up a day for residents to receive soup or clothing.
“Our veterans are doing such a great job and I think the reason why they play such a vital role in this program is because they’re experienced in the military. So, they develop a skill set and so, it makes them just that much easier to pull into the program,” said Acosta.
She also emphasized the importance of the disaster team vehicle because it can provide motivation to those who might feel lost: “Maybe there’s a veteran out there that maybe he has a void or she has a void [and] maybe they see that this program is being supported and sponsored by local vet[erans] and that's their calling they needed to get them out of that mindset.”
In the future, Cook shared that the VFW is continuing to look for opportunities to aid their community, such as getting certified as a warming shelter and starting a fireside chat.
The unveiling of the disaster team vehicle will be at 9 a.m. Friday, March 6, at the Kyle VFW, 107 Veterans Drive.
