Saturday, October 26, Orcas School Cafeteria
— from Jana Webb —
The Whatcom County Veteran Navigators will once again return to Orcas on Saturday, October 26 to lend their assistance and expertise to our San Juan County veterans. This volunteer group comprised of veterans (and families of veterans) first came to Orcas in May of 2018 and will be returning for their fourth visit to the island where they have served over 90 county veterans to date! These events have resulted in San Juan County veterans accessing pensions, service records, disability benefits, medical benefits, and more!
If this is your first visit to the event, rest assured you will be assisted by a trained volunteer who is also a fellow veteran or a family member of a veteran. These folks have experienced firsthand the frustration of accessing veteran’s benefits and understand just how difficult it is to navigate this process. On Saturday, you’ll enter the Orcas Island Public School cafeteria to sign in where you will be greeted by a volunteer and take a seat in the cafeteria after you help yourself to a snack or sandwich along with a cup of coffee or tea. In addition to your DD214, you may want to have a book or newspaper in tow to read while you wait. Every veteran will have their one-on-one with a Navigator until all tasks at hand have been addressed and paperwork completed and submitted; on average, each veteran will spend about an hour with their Navigator.
Here’s what some county veterans are saying about their experience:
“most productive Saturday”
“life-changing”
“I can’t believe it…….after all these years!”
“the outcome of a few hours of my Saturday……amazing!”
“these people are angels”
“I was moved to tears!”
The Veteran Navigators continue to be overwhelmed by the hospitality of Orcas Island since their first visit to Orcas at which time island vets, businesses, and organizations donated everything from meals to lodging. They were so moved by our island welcome and the great need to serve our San Juan County veterans, that they have committed to returning to Orcas twice a year going forward.
Please contact Jana at the Resource Center at 376.3184 or jana@orcascrc.org if you have any questions. We hope to see you there.
