In Buda, Texas, American Legion Post 213 shares office space in the Central Texas Veterans Center with Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 12161. Last January, the two organizations joined together with AMVETS Post 115 to form the Buda VSO Alliance, with the goal being – according to Alliance Executive Director and American Legion Riders Chapter 213 Treasurer Bruce White – “to get all three of the posts in our small town working together instead of competing against each other.”
Accomplishment of that goal has never been more evident than what the Alliance has been able to produce during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. With members of Post 213’s American Legion Family filling in key roles, the three posts have produced more than 10,000 masks and surgical mask straps for health-care workers, local veterans, first responders and other members of the community.
The Alliance also has been responsible for providing food and supplies for 26 local families. The three-organization effort has been a realization of the Alliance’s original goal.
“We knew we had to step up and do something (when the pandemic broke out),” White said. “We’re in a small south of Austin, and we needed to do something. This was why we exist. This was why the Alliance came into existence.”
Realizing there was a need for both masks and mask straps, as well as a need for food assistance for some families, the Alliance made fulfilling those needs as the priority. Members of the Alliance with certain skillsets or areas of expertise were given specific responsibilities.
Some veterans began sewing masks, while others provided delivery of the masks, straps and food. Members of the community stepped up with financial donations.
Even members of Post 213 considered to be in the high-risk group for the coronavirus have assisted the effort “from home,” White said. “They can’t come down and physically assist, but they look at (requests for help), they say ‘OK’ and they start calling volunteers.”
On the Legion side of the Alliance, White said several members of the post’s Legion Family have played critical roles in the coronavirus relief efforts. Legionnaire Cassaundra Melgar C’DeBaca – who serves on the Alliance’s board of directors as a Legion representative – runs the mask-making operation, while 82-year-old Post 213 Adjutant Kerman Hammond coordinates the delivery operation. And ALR Chapter 213 Director Jay Gonzales, also an Alliance board member, handles the back-end administrative and scheduling operation for the project.
White, who works in the IT field, handles 3D printing of the surgical mask straps. Austin’s Spectrum News, a 24-hour news channel, allowed the Alliance to use its 3D printer to help produce mask straps.
Through mid-May and close to 4,000 man hours, the Alliance’s efforts have produced 6,252 masks distributed and another 3,962 surgical mask straps given for free to health-care facilities and nursing homes. And the food bank the Alliance set up during the pandemic will become a permanent service for the community.
The responses from those assisted by the Alliance have been that of thanks and relief. One health-care worker wrote that “The (mask straps) have been great for our masks. It’s made it much easier to bear to keep on for 8+ hours daily. It has made a tremendous difference in our work day. Thank you for all you do. Now and previously. God bless you and all our VETS. Wouldn’t be here without all of you. Thank you again.”
Another health-care worker wrote “We recently received our order of 900 (mask straps). Staff have been extremely grateful for them and have said how much a regular mask was previously hurting their ears. They couldn't believe someone would be gracious enough to donate them to us! Thank you so much for helping us to stay safe and protect our clients - and each other!”
The Alliance also heard from an individual who received masks for he and his family, who wrote, “My family cannot thank you all enough. I can now go to work and not stress a lot about working without a mask in downtown Austin.”
White said that as demand has started to ease back, the Alliance has been able to slow down its production efforts. But as long as the pandemic creates a need for assistance, the Alliance will be there for the community,
“When we started this, we thought, ‘Oh, we’ll probably do 300 or 400 masks, a few hundred surgical mask straps, and two or three people are going to need some food,'” White said. “What we thought was going to happen was not even the tip of the iceberg.
“Buda veterans are dedicated to being good citizens, and we will leave no one behind. Together, we will overcome this crisis.”
