Backpacks of bare necessities
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 6 years, 12 months AGO
Courtesy photo The VFW Post 889 Auxiliary, Coeur d’Alene Eagles Aerie 486 and Wild Coyotes 4-H club have partnered together for the Bare Necessities Backpack Project, a program that provides essential items such as toiletries and sewing kits to homeless and at-risk veterans. Left to right, standing: Brenda Baker, nurse manager at the Coeur d’Alene VA Clinic; 4-H leaders Michelle Hall and Stacey Stone; and Auxiliary President Beverly Hanson. Front row, kneeling from left: Auxiliary backpack program chairperson Diane Martin; 4-H members Christina Turbes, Megan Stone and Hannah Hall; a…
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary 889 in Coeur d'Alene wanted to do something for homeless veterans in their town.
According to the Auxiliary, veterans are 50 percent more likely to become homeless than other Americans. Knowing this, the Post 889 Auxiliary developed a project known as the "Bare Necessities Backpack Project" to help local veterans with essential needs.
These backpacks are filled with items for personal hygiene, bathing, dental hygiene, Band-Aids, first-aid cream, towels, washcloths, socks, hats and gloves in the winter, sewing kits, manicure kits, water bottles, eating utensils, notepads and pens.
The Auxiliary received a $1,000 donation from the Coeur d'Alene Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 486, along with a $1,000 grant from the VFW Foundation to help make this project happen.
Members of the Wild Coyotes 4-H club contacted the Auxiliary to ask if they could do something for the veterans in their community as a way to thank them for their sacrifices. They volunteered to help obtain the items for the backpacks.
The backpacks are delivered on a monthly basis to the staff at the Mann-Grandstaff Veterans Affairs Clinic in Coeur d'Alene, which distributes the backpacks to homeless or at-risk homeless veterans. When a homeless veteran comes to the clinic for medical care, the clinic offers that veteran a backpack, which the 889 Auxiliary replaces.
The backpack program is a collaborative effort between 4-H members, the Coeur d'Alene Eagles, the VFW Foundation and the VFW Post 889 Auxiliary to help the community's most vulnerable veterans.