Vets attack patient problem

Three Mesquite veterans Friday delivered nearly 300 pounds of donated items including clothing and personal hygiene products to the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System on Pecos Road in Las Vegas.

The three veterans, the Rev. Rita K. Brandenburg, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps; her husband, the Rev. Walter A. Brandenburg, a disabled veteran retired from the U.S. Air Force, and Larry Stump, retired from the U.S. Army, collected the items over about two weeks in Mesquite.

“I am absolutely amazed at all the stuff,” said Karen Cinnamon, chief of VA Voluntary Services in Las Vegas. “This is the first time we’ve had this happen here. The unusual thing is that they mobilized the entire community. It’s a wonderful thing that they got so much support.”

The vast majority of the items collected by Stump and the Brandenburg’s came from a table the three set up outside the Dollar Tree Variety Store, 1085 W. Pioneer Blvd., for few days in January.

They gave a list of needed items to shoppers as they entered the store. The donation lists included personal hygiene items such as lotion, razors, shaving cream toothbrushes and paste, mouthwash, combs, brushes.

The Brandenburgs and Stump, with help from Mesquite Trailer Park owner Debbie Crossley and her son Timothy, over two days divided the items into individual bags according to gender.

The work was done in the park’s laundry room on Mesquite Boulevard. When they were done, there nearly 300 individual bags.

“Everything we receive goes directly to veterans,” Cinnamon said.

Many of the items will go to the men and women veterans who are in-patients of the new VA hospital in Las Vegas.

“However, not all of our patients are necessarily hospitalized,” Cinnamon said. “We have a large contingent of homeless and outpatient veterans.”

The donations may go to patients who enter the VA hospital through the emergency room and they’re also used for an in-patient mental health hygiene class.

The goal is to provide a “more home-like experience” for patients who are in the hospital for longer stays.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System relies on donations to meet the needs of veteran patients, Cinnamon said. The include summer and winter clothing such as seat pants and shirts, T-shirts, underwear for men and women, personal hygiene items and miscellaneous items like books, reading glasses, puzzle books, gift cards, writing materials, magazines and healthy snacks in single serving size.

The VA healthcare system includes a “dream list” of special items that includes a bingo machine, karaoke machine, stereo systems, barbeque grills and a baby grand piano.

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