Spring Break
Veterans benefit from donations
Stephanie Dumm
Issue date: 11/12/08 Section: Features
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The Sac State Veterans' Affairs office is holding a clothing drive on campus, accepting gently-used clothing that will be donated to veterans in need.
Daisy Enriquez, who is organizing the clothing drive, said her fellow co-workers at the Veterans' Affairs office decided that they wanted to find a way to help out homeless veterans in the area.
"One out of three homeless people is probably a veteran," Enriquez said of the homeless population in Sacramento.
With winter right around the corner, many homeless men and women are dependent on donations to keep themselves warm.
Peter Clark, a business major who works with Enriquez in the Veterans' Affairs office, offered an explanation as to why so many homeless are veterans. He said that a lot of it is related to the fact that when veterans have come back from whatever war they served in, some of them haven't been reached out to by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs.
The veterans who end up homeless may not have received help to work through any issues they may have brought back with them after fighting in a war, and may end up feeling like no one understands them.
The Sac State Veterans' Affairs office began collecting clothing donations on Oct. 16 and will continue to collect until midnight today.
There were two places to donate on campus, one being at the Veterans' Affairs office and another next to the Java City near Mellow Me Out in the University Union. As of Nov. 4, about 20 large shopping bags and two large storage bins full of clothes had been donated.
"We are taking anything. We'll take boots, gloves and hats," Clark said. "A lot of vets are homeless and we wanted to give back to them by giving them clothes."
The clothing being collected will be going to men, women and children. There weren't any stipulations regarding what could and couldn't be donated to the veterans, and nothing too out of the ordinary had been donated to date.
Enriquez did say that a few people had donated some business attire, which she said that they thought was great, because it would be perfect for a veteran who might possibly be going to a job interview.
The clothing will be dropped on Veteran's Day at the Sacramento Veteran's Resource Center, although Enriquez was not sure whether or not they would be dropping off the clothes where the veterans drop in to pick up the clothes.
She said that she wasn't sure if privacy would be a factor, or if the center would have to sort through the clothes before handing them out to the veterans.
This is the first year that the Veterans' Affairs office has collected clothes for homeless veterans, but it is something that it would like to continue doing annually.
History major Chuck Caraway also works in the Sac State Veteran's Office. He said students should donate their clothing whether or not they support the war, but because they should appreciate those who have supported them.
"Honestly, I think it will make the veterans feel better, and that we appreciate them especially since it's on Veteran's Day," Caraway said.
The idea for the clothing drive for veterans came up when Enriquez, Clark, Caraway and others wanted to find a way to give back to the veterans in our area. After a session of brainstorming, they came up with their plan to encourage students to get involved.
The clothing drive was advertised a few different ways. Enriquez said that they have spread the word through e-mail, the student activities' newsletter and through the Today's Events screens in the Union.
Clark said that he's stood up in front of his classes and announced that the clothing drive was taking place. He and Enriquez had also put up a booth in the Library Quad to help generate interest in the clothing drive.
He said that their booth has had mixed reactions from students, much like any other booth in the Library Quad. Either students would walk past with blinders on or were slow to warm to them.
"Overall, we've had a few people stop by and see what is going on," Clark said.
The clothing drive is not the only event that they will be holding to benefit homeless veterans. In addition to clothing drives in the fall, Enriquez said they will hold a canned food drive in the spring. The goal is to give back to homeless veterans twice a year, in the fall and spring.
The Veterans' Affairs Office's role on campus is more than just staging clothing and food drives. It is also a resource for veterans who are attending Sac State. Enriquez said that part of her job is to certify veterans for their benefits, which means the office helps ensure that the courses taken by veterans at Sac State will be covered by the GI Bill.
The office also helps connect veterans, so that he or she can get to know others that have had similar experiences. Those that work in the office had also served in the armed forces.
The Veterans' Affairs office is also working to put up a monument on campus that will honor Sac State students and graduates who have either lost their lives in war, have become prisoners of war, or have been deemed missing in action since.
Clark said that hopefully this memorial will be put up within the next five years, and will honor Sac State students throughout the university's history.
For now, they will help make veterans' lives easier by providing clothing and canned food.
Stephanie Dumm can be reached at sdumm@statehornet.com
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