You should never have to feel like you're alone.  

That was the message that a group of volunteers from Anavets in Canada and the Veteran's Association Food Bank delivered yesterday (April 26) along with food hampers, and much love to veterans in the Calgary area. 

Allan Hunter of Airdrie, a National Service Officer for Unit Two of Anavets in Canada, was one of the people who organized the event that delivered more than 350 meals in 74 hampers to vets in Airdrie, Carstairs, Strathmore, Cochrane and other communities around Calgary.

"We have a lot of veterans who have lost jobs because of this coronavirus and a lot of veterans who had to self-isolate, a lot of them have pre-existing conditions," Hunter explains.  "So a lot of them are alone, all alone and what we determined we needed to do was to go out and do two things."

Hunter says the first was to do a wellness check, asking the veterans how they were doing physically, mentally, and if there was anything they needed.  The second was to deliver the care packages that consisted of five meals for each veteran that various veteran's support groups, including the Anavets, had purchased all the food for and cooked the meals.

The convoy of cars, trucks, and motorcycles left from the Veteran's Association Food Bank on what Hunter says was a two-fold purpose.  "To let them know that they're not alone, that they've served and today it's our turn to serve them and to let them know that we're going to keep an eye on them until we come through this out the other side.  It's veterans helping veterans, and that's what we're going to do."

All of the volunteers were very careful to observe proper physical distancing as they picked up the hampers for delivery.  No more than 15 were allowed into an area and proper sanitizers were kept close at hand.  "A lot of the guys on motorcycles already have masks, although they're not quite as pretty as some of the others you might see," jokes Hunter.

Hunter explains while the food delivery is important, likely the most important aspect of the day was to check on the wellness of the veterans. "If you're a veteran suffering from PTSD, or PTSD and physical issues, and now you're locked down and you can't communicate with your loved ones.  A wellness check is absolutely the most important thing.  We want them to understand that, you know what, if you're having a low point or bad point call us, get a hold of us.  We will make sure we do whatever we have to in order to get you into a better place."

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