Vets in need will be getting help from some different sources Wednesday during the 2016 Veterans Stand-Down.
The annual event is an opportunity for veterans to get some immediate aid while connecting with agencies that can provide long-term resources.
The immediate assistance includes surplus military gear.
“The Department of Defense stuff is a big draw,” said Nick Herber, associate director of the event.
There is a central clearinghouse that provides things such as cold-weather gear for stand-down events around the country. However …
If You Go
• What: 2016 Veterans Stand-Down.
• Where: Armed Forces Reserve Center, 15005 N.E. 65th St., Vancouver.
• When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday.
• Shuttles: Leave from the Veterans Assistance Center, 1305 Columbia St., at 7:40 a.m., 9:25 a.m., 11:10 a.m. and 1:25 p.m., with pickups along the way at Esther Short Park and the Vancouver Veterans Affairs campus, on Fourth Plain Boulevard.
“The warehouse burned down,” Herber said. “It’s been a struggle to get clothing here.”
He has been able to do some long-distance networking to find new sources.
“You can go to American bases and draw it out of their inventory. Sometimes it’s a crapshoot whether you get it or not. The Department of Defense is taking care of shipping costs, but we have a fork lift at our storage center just because there are trucks that come in with supplies on pallets.
“I have a lot of sleeping bags, but I hardly have any boots, which is a bad thing. We’re expecting about 400 vets, and hopefully we will have enough.”
The Clark County Veterans Assistance Center is organizing the event, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Armed Forces Reserve Center, 15005 N.E. 65th St. The site, just south of Fourth Plain Boulevard and Ward Road in Orchards, includes an assembly hall where service providers will set up.
They include veterans groups and local organizations whose representatives can discuss housing assistance, employment services and counseling. There also will be staffers from government agencies, including the Portland Veterans Affairs system.
The regional Red Cross, the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington and the Tacoma-area Veterans Affairs network will have mobile clinics on site to provide some health screenings.
A free shuttle service will be available at the downtown Veterans Assistance Center, 1305 Columbia St. Departures will be at 7:40 a.m., 9:25 a.m., 11:10 a.m. and 1:25 p.m. Each run will include pickup stops at Esther Short Park and at the Vancouver VA campus along Fourth Plain Boulevard.
The return shuttles will leave the Reserve Center at 8:45 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:45 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
