Helping veterans: New DAV van delivered to Cheboygan County
CHEBOYGAN — After having to use a loaner van for the last nine months, a new DAV van was delivered to Cheboygan County earlier this week.
The van allows volunteer drivers to transport local veterans to appointments they would not be able to attend otherwise.
The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) vehicle is not owned by Cheboygan County. It is paid for entirely by the Department of Veterans Affairs' volunteer services.
"We drive veterans to their VA or Community Care appointments anywhere in the state," said Cheboygan County Veterans Service Officer Sara Cunningham. "This service is completely free to the veterans."
Through the partnership with DAV, the county paid around half the cost for the vehicle, but does not pay for gas and maintenance for the vehicle. The county is also required to send monthly reports of mileage, expenses and number of veterans driven. Then, when it comes time for the vehicle to be replaced, the county is able to keep the vehicle and add it to its fleet.
"Overall, it is a really great opportunity for us to be able to provide this service to our local veterans free of charge," said Cunningham.
Cunningham said the volunteer drivers use the vehicle to make frequent trips to VA medical facilities in Saginaw, Detroit and Ann Arbor. It is also used to get veterans to appointments at the Community Based Outpatient Clinics in Mackinaw City and Gaylord.
"Lately we have been seeing more and more veterans getting referred for Community Care so we are able to drive them to those appointment, sometimes in Petoskey, Traverse City, St. Ignace, or anywhere else their appointment is scheduled for," said Cunningham.
Stipulations for use of the van include passengers not being able to smoke, chew tobacco, drink alcohol, or bring any weapons, drugs or illegal substances onboard. The drivers are also not required to give a veteran a ride to their appointment if they are intoxicated, are threatening to the driver or others in the vehicle, or if they are being abusive.
Several other communities around Northern Michigan offer the ride service to local veterans, including Alpena, Grayling and Traverse City.
"We have driven veterans from all over Northern Michigan. One time we had a veteran that needed to get to Iron Mountain from Battle Creek," she said. "The VA got him from Battle Creek to Saginaw, then Saginaw to Gaylord. We picked him up in Gaylord and drove him to Sault Ste. Marie, where he was able to coordinate transportation to Iron Mountain."
Cunningham said the Cheboygan County Veterans Service Office will do whatever they can to make sure veterans from any area are able to get to their appointments, even if they are just transiting through the county to get to their destination.
The county has been offering the DAV van program since 2013. Last October, the van was involved in an accident with a deer and was totaled.
"Thankfully everyone was OK, but that left us without the ability to transport veterans," said Cunningham. "We worked with the Saginaw VA Medical Center’s garage supervisor and he offered to lend us one of his vehicles until we got our own. We placed the order for a new vehicle on Jan. 3 of this year, expecting it to be a while before it came in due to the vehicle shortage nationwide."
The county got word that the new vehicle was ready on July 11. Saginaw CA Medical Center delivered the vehicle to Cheboygan County on Wednesday, taking the loaner vehicle back with them.
"We are very excited to have this new vehicle to transport veterans to their VA and Community Care appointments," said Cunningham.
Since starting the service almost 10 years ago, the number of volunteer drivers has fluctuated. At times, there have been as many as eight drivers and as few as three. There are currently five people who donate their time: Bill Palmer, Tracy Barber, Mike Brown, Terry Reigler and Mike LeButt.
"It is such a privilege to meet these veterans and hear their stories. It really makes you feel good to be able to help," said Palmer.
Cunningham said the drivers are all volunteers and are not compensated in any way for their service. She added that they are what makes the program succeed and between the five drivers, the county is almost always able to accommodate ride requests.
"They give up entire days to bring a veteran to appointments downstate. They will get up and leave in the early morning hours or drive through awful winter weather to get a veteran to their appointment on time," she said. "We are incredibly grateful for their service to this community."
Any veteran who is in need of a ride to an appointment can call the county veterans office at (231) 627-8833 to schedule a ride. It is asked to give them as much advanced notice as possible, to make sure a driver is available.
The Cheboygan County Veterans Services Office can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CheboyganVeterans, or on their website at www.cheboygancounty.net/departments-services/veterans-services.
More information on the DAV program can be found at www.dav.org/veterans/i-need-a-ride.
Contact Reporter Kortny Hahn at khahn1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @khahnCDT.
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan County receives replacement DAV van to help transport veterans
