Walter Reed Hospital patients seek kits.

Hi,I failed to mentiont he other side of the coin and for good reason.You WILL get emotionally involved with the families and the vet.This IS a good thing in the long run as the sense of a job well done when that vet is released to finally go home is beyond description.The hard part is when you get a phone call at home to tell you they didn,t make it after all this time.THAT HURTS LIKE HADES!!!!VOLUNTEERING is the best way to thank these men and women for what they,ve done in service to their country.They need recreation and the therapeutic effects that come with it.DO give those kits and if you can your time too!! they will be grateful for both!! SEMPER FI----tankerbuilder

Tankbuilder

That is a great story!  Thanks for thinking of that as a way to volunteer to help vets.  Good on ya, Man!!

Hi,I have to answer this one. I worked as a volunteer at the V.A. facility in MARTINEZ CA. for almost three years.I did the model building class and group. These kits were donated by HELP HOSPITALIZED VETERANS and my BRENTWOOD AMERICAN LEGION POST helped with monies every month to cover what HHV didn,t send to them.The guys would all gather around and build and b.s. in that hour or so.MANY were allowed to take their kits to their rooms though.I was the only one in volunteer service that was allowed to have sharps in the building.They thought well enough of yours truly ,that the vets talked my supervisor into entering the models I had on display as encouragement ,in the V.A. NATIONAL CREATIVE ARTS CONTEST for which I won a GOLD MEDAL and a SILVER!! Boy was I embarrassed! I did these as a goal for the guys to aspire to. Turns out ,they appreciated the kits I was able to use to supplement HHVA kits were much appreciated so that was their way of thanking me.If you don,t want to donate to HHVA then find your local V.A. that has recreation facilities and donate kits directly! They and the VETS would be forever grateful!! Please remember though,NO SHARPS!!! The guys would be pickled tink(oops! I meant tickled pink) HE.HE. The ability to spend time with the guys and gals who served is very satisfying and fulfilling.TRY IT,YOU,LL LIKE IT!!  Thanks for reading this----tankerbuilder

I am surprised they still do this at Walter Reed.  We used to have a modeler's store at the Veteran's Hospital here in Tucson, but they closed it as too dangerous.  It seems a couple of patients used the x-acto knives, shall we say, inapropriately.  Now you can't even take in a model to a patient for fear that another patient will do something with one of the tools, or glue, or something.  It's really a shame.  I had a good friend who had to spend quite a bit of time there, and building a couple of models was about all that kept him from going bonkers.  Amazing how a very few can spoil so much for so many.