LVMAC News — Local War Veteran’s Family Receive Specially Equipped Van

Result of Joint Lehigh Valley Effort with Recycled Rides Program

In a joint effort between the Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council (LVMAC), Reliable Auto Body and the National Auto Body Council’s Recycled Rides Program™, the keys to a newly refurbished 2010 BraunAbility EntryVan (wheelchair adapted) were presented to the Mescavage family at an 11 a.m. on 23 May at Reliable Auto Body, located at 967 Sumner Ave., Whitehall, PA. 

LVMAC Tidbit — Department of Banking and Securities Offers Financial Management Conference

Register for 9 June Event Now

Although originally created to address a Pennsylvania Guard “Family” need, the program has application to veterans and their families as well.  In fact, the Pennsylvania’s Department of Banking and Securities is offering the event to both groups.   Click here to go directly to the registration site.  After attending, give us your feedback.  Perhaps an event can be arranged in the Lehigh Valley in the future, if we hear good words about it.

LVMAC Tidbit — Wilkes-Barre VA seeks to establish a Veteran and Family Advisory Council

Click on image to enlarge.

May be heavily hospital-oriented initially, but it is also a way to feed new thoughts to the staff about customer service and events elsewhere.  A vast portion of their activities are outside that pleasure dome known as Wilkes-Barre VA Hospital.

Yes, it is an old idea with a face lift, but it may now be worth a shot. The VA is changing.

The statement “Ability to see beyond his/her own personal experience,” is key. If you are going to talk about yourself first, you are not looking out for others.

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As of 20 April 2017

LVMAC Tidbit — VA’s new online tool helps Veterans make informed health care decision: VAntage Point

Click on the image to see the VAntage Point article and how to use it.

This is a step forward which local health networks might want to emulate.  They should at least participate.

Regardless of the controversy which stimulated it, such willingness on the part of the VA to be transparent should prove useful to toward improving the quality of and the understanding of the state of healthcare, if the effort fulfills its promise.  It is a brave step on their part.

Here is a rhetorical question: would private sector healthcare have similar or worse problems, if it were held to the same standards and expectations that veterans ask of its VA?  Such user-oriented, tools might help all.

Click here to go directly to the tool itself.

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As of 12 April 2017

LVMAC Tidbit — Team River Runner Comes to the Lehigh Valley

Team River Runner has entered the Lehigh Valley and is now an LVMAC member. Its mission is to create an environment of healthy adventure, recreation and camaraderie for healing active duty, veteran service members and their families through adaptive kayaking.

It is holding indoor kayaking training in preparation for its Spring events on 19 March, 9 April and 23 April.  For more details and the local facebook site, click here.

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As of 17 March 2017

LVMAC News — Scholarship Season Has Begun, Suspense is 31 May 2017

Mr. Richard Moore, the Chairman of our Scholarship Committee, has announced that the LVMAC scholarship application period started 15 March and will end 31 May 2017.  Applications postmarked after 31 May will not be considered.

Some changes have been made to the program for this year.  Among them, military veterans’ Title 10 active duty service time after training is a consideration and children who are willing to render military service as junior officers will receive a higher priority for consideration than other categories of children. We wish to promote military service.  While the awarding of sixteen scholarships is planned, the actual amount awarded to an individual may be higher than the $1,000 to be expected, depending on the merit of his or her situation.  A new procedure has been established for this.

For details and application forms, click here.

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As of 16 March 2017

LVMAC News — Lehigh Valley Community Foundation Steps Forth to Assist Our Veterans

At the 18 January Council Meeting, Vice President Michael Vath announced the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation had recently awarded our organization a Community Partnership Grant of $5,000 towards its efforts to assist in eliminating homelessness among our Lehigh Valley veterans.  The Foundation, an important and respected part of the warp and woof of this community’s fabric,  whose origin lies 1967 with Bethlehem’s 225^th anniversary celebration and the donations of school children and steelworkers among others, promotes philanthropy in order to improve the quality of life in our region, encourage collaboration among area philanthropists, and to serve as a source of information and expertise regarding charitable giving.

The funds will be used by the Lehigh Valley Homeless Veterans Action Committee (LVHVAC), an LVMAC coalition whose membership consists of the leading organizations which address the plight of homeless veterans in Lehigh and Northampton counties and are willing to combine their efforts with those of the local Allentown VA Outpatient Clinic’s homeless team, whether or not they are VA contractors.  The committee was formed out of the belief that in order to be successful, outreach, assistance and recovery efforts required more integration and the use of a continuum of care approach in the Lehigh Valley.  There was also a need for a forum where these organizations could sometimes problem-solve together with the local VA.