'It means the difference'
Legion staff presented items donated by Operation Comfort Warriors to patients at the Spinal Cord Injury Center of the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Fla. (Photo by Lucas Carter)

'It means the difference'

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Already in the Tampa area to help veterans navigate the Department of Veterans Affairs health-care system, The American Legion stopped by the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital on Jan. 13 to make an Operation Comfort Warriors (OCW) donation.

Legion staff dropped off approximately $10,000 worth of sporting goods, cookware, DVDs and other items to the hospital’s Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Center. The items were purchased through donations made to OCW by members of The American Legion family. Every cent donated to the fund goes directly toward purchasing comfort items for recovering servicemembers.

“This is one of our main programs to help you guys do the great work that you do and just fill in those gaps and help produce better outcomes,” OCW Coordinator James Ellison told the facility’s staff. “Some of us are VA patients ourselves, and we know that a lot of this stuff can offer a little bit of distraction and a little bit of normalcy. It’s fun. It’s the regular stuff that we don’t always get to do as a patient.”

Items donated included three road bikes, fishing equipment, dart boards and basketballs. A recumbent bike and trike also are being ordered for the facility.

“You think about the comfort items for those men and women that are here that we’re treating – whether it’s for a short term or a long term – and what it means to them, it means the difference,” said David J. VanMeter, associate director of the hospital. "And for The American Legion to come in and provide comfort items for them, it means everything to them.”

Verna Jones, executive director of the Legion’s D.C. office, said that often times when she leaves a facility such as the SCI, she has, “A ball in a pit of my stomach and I hate leaving because it just feels so bad to see veterans, our nation’s heroes, in that condition. But when I left (the SCI) yesterday, I didn’t feel like that. I felt like we were leaving our veterans in very capable hands, and that was a wonderful feeling.”

VanMeter said those words meant a lot to the hospital’s staff.

“We appreciate people that recognize we’re here for our veterans,” he said. “It’s a public trust. It’s something we hold in the highest regards, and it’s one of the most noble missions in all of federal services: caring for those who have put themselves in harm’s way to maintain our way of life.”