Don’t let the title of the club fool you: The Jefferson County Quilts of Valor will be happy to make a quilt for a veteran in Clallam County.
They are a registered group of the Quilts of Valor Foundation, a 501(c)3. Their mission is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor.
You can request a quilt though the website www.qovf.org, or contact Kathey, the local team leader, at 360-316-9798 or lkatheybates@gmail.com. These quilts cost about $250 to make so you can donate money to make a quilt if you would like. You can also join the group to sew a quilt. They meet the second and fourth Friday of each month at Creative Union Quilt Shop, 112 Kala Square, Port Townsend.
Presentations of quilts can be done in many ways, including individually. Please contact Kathey if you have questions or want to request a quilt or to donate.
Sarge’s needs some carpeting
Sarge’s Place, which helps with housing for homeless veterans in Forks, is collecting funds to replace the 9-year old carpet in the building. As you can imagine, many folks have passed through their doors and the weather in Forks is tough on carpet, so it is time. They will be getting the carpet from a local vendor.
If you would like to contribute to this effort, you can go to their web page to donate or write a check with “carpet” in the “For” line and send it to them at 250 Ash Ave, Forks, WA 98331. Full disclosure: I am on the Board for Sarge’s Place now because I believe in their mission and their approach to helping veterans.
Dealing with trauma
There will be a presentation on how to address past trauma influences at 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14, at the Sequim VFW Post, 169 E. Washington St. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) has become a well known term and many have this issue, both military and civilian.
Neil Gamroth is a Vietnam veteran who has researched PTSD for 27 years. He has worked at the Department of Defense, the VA and had a private counseling practice. His presentation will address how past trauma influences our reaction after being triggered later in life. How you respond in the next few seconds once triggered can be controlled using the methods taught in this presentation.
There will be coffee, tea and water available. All are welcome to attend. If you have questions, please contact me at cdrlgilchrist@gmail.com.
Benefit set
There will be a Military Veteran Health Care Benefit event hosted by VA Veterans Community Partnership, TriWest Healthcare Alliance and VA Puget Sound Health Care System at noon on Thursday, March 12, at the Veterans Center, 216 S. Francis St., Port Angeles.
If you are a veteran, know a veteran or provide services to veterans please come and get information. This is an opportunity to hear and ask questions about VA Community Care, Mission Act (TriWest) and the Urgent Care Option. If you have questions, contact me cdrlgilchrist@gmail.com. There will be more specific information coming out closer to the event.
Veteran center at PC
Peninsula College now has a Veteran Center for students who are veterans. The Grand Opening was Feb. 5. It is in the Pirate Union Building (PUB), room J-01 and is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday. It is staffed by Shae Pozarzycki; he can be reached at 360-417-6339 or Spozarzycki@pencl.edu.
The center is going to provide an opportunity for veteran students to become more involved in the community. The community will be invited in to host workshops, training, hiring events, etc. Communication is the emphasis — to relay information to veterans so they know what is available to them. All are welcome to stop by and check it out!
Contributors: American Legion, Carl Bradshaw, thbkdragon@yahoo.com; MOAA and Voices For Veterans, Lorri Gilchrist, cdrlgilchrist@gmail.com; Marine Corps League, Mark Schildknecht, marana-s@outlook.com; Korean War Veterans, Jerry Rettela, eletteor@msn.com; VFW 4760, Steve Henrikson, secretary@vfwpost4760.com ; VFW 6787, Rod Lee, sealteam54@q.com.
