Before his passing, 101-year-old Jeannette Feldman and her late husband, Army Veteran Edward Feldman, were among the longest-serving volunteers at VA. Together, the Feldmans served a combined 60 years.

“It was a wonderful experience for both of us,” Jeannette said. “I had many times there when I knew it was the right thing for us to do.”

Her stories are both touching and uplifting. Like the time she sat outside in full protective gear with a Veteran so he could spend one more day in the sun. Or the time she told a Veteran she was an octogenarian and he replied, “I’ve never heard of that disease.”

But above all, she remembers the small things that make a world of difference: “You have no idea what a warm blanket will do for a patient,” she said.

760 million volunteer hours

Jeannette joins a long list of volunteers to serve Veterans at VA through the Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE). In its 75-year history, VA Volunteers have served an estimated 760 million volunteer hours (or 86,000 years).

Perhaps what makes CDCE stand out the most is its ability to identify emerging needs within the VA health care system and respond accordingly. For example, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CDCE launched the new Compassionate Contact Corps. This virtual program allows volunteers to visit with Veterans so they don’t feel isolated. More than 70 VA facilities are now part of the program.

Partnerships also play an essential role in implementing critical services for Veterans. With Disabled American Veterans, the CDCE implements the Volunteer Transportation Network, which helps Veterans make it to critical health appointments.

DAV provided over 240,000 free rides

During the pandemic, the partnerships worked together to develop safety protocols that let volunteers continue driving Veterans to appointments. In 2020 alone, DAV volunteers provided more than 243,000 free rides to Veterans and traveled more than 9.6 million miles.

Jeannette notes that there is something else VA volunteers have that makes them so unique: compassion.

“If you have that in you and you appreciate, you appreciate what all these Veterans have done,” she said. She encourages the next generation of volunteers to carry the baton for Veterans now that she is retired as a way to thank them for their service and sacrifices to the United States.

“You probably are getting a little bit of a taste for volunteering because you have to do community service hours in school,” she said. “I’m sure that somewhere you went, you got a really good feeling about doing something. If you can magnify that by 100 times, that’s what volunteering in a VA hospital is. That’s what it is.”

Visit the Center for Development and Civic Engagement website for more information about the impact of VA volunteers and how you can start serving Veterans in your area.

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4 Comments

  1. Concerned Veteran Arnold Cabral December 24, 2021 at 13:15

    The Veterans who read this please Spread my firm belief can you please and you don’t have to be a Veteran email your Representative or Senators asked them to contact the Veteran Affairs Committee passed a new Disabled Veteran Law who is 100 percent service connected need a Dentist that knows how to put in G4implants for free because they don’t have one works for a Veteran Medical Centers Dentistry or have a contract with a Veteran Affairs Administration and if a Disabled Veterans who is 100 percent service connected don’t get the G4implants it will definitely cause real bad Swallowing Problems and really bad Heart Failure plus real bad Gum Disease….Semper Fi and stay Healthy and be careful of the Virus.

  2. Lynn F Spalding December 23, 2021 at 22:17

    What VA did the Feldmans’ volunteer at?

  3. Robert Wilkins December 23, 2021 at 08:43

    my husband is a 22 year veteran we need some help on our home does va help do this

  4. Brice Andrew Cook December 22, 2021 at 09:34

    Thank you! VA.

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