National Commander Hotop Visits Walter Reed

This morning AMVETS National Commander Jerry Hotop and AMVETS National Programs Director Beryl Love made their way to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. to visit with wounded warriors recovering at the facility.

Hotop, whose schedule routinely takes him out of the Washington area, wanted to take a few moments to meet with troops recuperating at the facility.

During the visit, Hotop was able to meet with troops in various stages of the recovery process from all across the country and offered words of gratitude and encouragement on behalf of the 250,000 AMVETS, AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary, and Sons of AMVETS nationwide.

Hotop also received a briefing from hospital brass on the forthcoming merger between Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the nearby National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., to form the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The two facilities are slated to merge between September and October, when the current Walter Reed facility is scheduled to close permanently. The majority of patients transferred to the new facility in Bethesda will be amputees and those suffering from severe traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. Remaining patients will be transferred to the new state-of-the-art Army hospital at Fort Belvoir, Va.

While at Walter Reed, Hotop also had the opportunity to visit with three of the Federal Recovery Coordinators who have been assisting service members and their families in requests for financial assistance through the AMVETS Healing Heroes program. To date, AMVETS Healing Heroes has given more than $500,000 in grants to 256 requesting families, with more aid still available.

(Story with contributions from Beryl Love.)

Live from Convention: Service Foundation donates climbing wall to Georgia VA Medical Center

This morning, AMVETS National Service Foundation donated $150,000 to the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Ga., to finance the purchase of a therapeutic rock climbing wall for veterans rehabilitating at the facility.

"On behalf of Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center and our director, Rebecca Wiley, I want to say that we're extremely grateful for this donation from AMVETS, which will help our veterans return to a normal life," said David Patillo, assistant medical center director at Charlie Norwood. "We can't do enough to support our wounded troops who have done so much for this country."

The service foundation made the donation as part of the AMVETS Healing Heroes program, which directly supports wounded veterans and their loved ones. When AMVETS Healing Heroes rolled out in spring 2008, AMVETS National Service Foundation sought to keep families of wounded troops together through the long rehabilitation process.

Today, the program has expanded to seek additional rehabilitation opportunities to support wounded veterans through innovative therapeutic options like the Charlie Norwood VAMC climbing wall.

Every cent donated to AMVETS Healing Heroes goes to help wounded warriors, since the program has no overhead costs. To date, AMVETS National Service Foundation has distributed more than $300,000 in aide since its inception.

AMVETS National Programs Director Beryl Love said he is looking forward to continuing to support healing heroes, as the AMVETS National Service Foundation's fund continues to grow.

(Photo: Leaders from AMVETS and the AMVETS National Service Foundation presented officials from the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center with a check for $150,000 to finance a therepeutic climbing wall at the facility. Pictured, left to right: Joe Peining, executive director of the AMVETS National Service Foundation, Beryl Love, AMVETS national programs director, Kimberly Hoge, chief of voluntary services at Charlie Norwood VAMC, John C. Hapner, AMVETS national commander, and David Pattillo, assistant medical center director at Charlie Norwood VAMC. Photo by Jay Agg.)