CROYDON, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A Veterans Day celebration at a Bucks County VFW on Saturday was also the site of a food giveaway, where a local nonprofit distributed free food to veterans and others in need.
Vietnam veteran Bill Ovens is commander of Joseph A. Schumacher VFW Post 1597 in Croydon. He says whether a veteran served during wartime or not, it’s because of the military that Americans have the freedoms they enjoy today, such as the freedom to vote.
“In other countries, they don't have that opportunity. It’s just this guy's in charge. He's got an army, he's bigger than your army, you're gonna do what he says,” said Ovens.
“Anywhere in the world you go, there isn’t a person I've ever met that would not like to come here to live if they could do so because of what we have in comparison to what they have.”
But sometimes, after they’re discharged, veterans don’t get the services they need. Cathy Snyder, founder and executive director of Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, says with inflation putting a squeeze on budgets, it’s not uncommon for veterans to rely on government assistance to feed their families.
“We have heard a very sobering statistic that … way more than 20% of active duty service members are also relying on food stamps to feed their families. There's something wrong with that system,” she said.
“We can spread awareness that anybody who is in need, please, there's no shame to saying, ‘I can't keep up with these prices.’”
Rolling Harvest set up a giveaway outside the VFW, where vets and anyone in need could pick up free produce, eggs, milk, meat and more. Kim Knopf, president of Post 1597, says oftentimes, it’s not just food that veterans need.
“There are homeless veterans,” said Knopf. According to the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, there are more than 33,000 of them in America.
“A lot of people don't know about them because they are introverted from the war, from their PTSD,” said Knopf. “So they don't seek out help but there is help out there for them.”