AMVETS need volunteers to drive veterans to Loma Linda
A veteran service organization is asking for help to get veterans back on the road, with volunteers at the wheel.
“I would beg friends to take me and that’s expensive, the gas is expensive and I really can’t afford it,” Tom Hernandez said.
Hernandez is a Marine Corps veteran who is legally blind, has AIDS, can’t drive and doesn’t have a car. He said it was difficult for him to get to his doctor’s appointments at the Veteran’s Affairs hospital in Loma Linda. That’s why he created Amvets Express in 2004.
“Everybody volunteers. The dispatchers are volunteers, the drivers all volunteer but right now we are short two drivers,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said having drivers is what keeps this 13-year-old service on the road. Brian Barger has been a volunteer driver for the last five years. He said without him at the wheel, veterans who use this service can’t find an alternate route.
“I drove yesterday six veterans, five of them couldn’t have made it to the hospital without this van. They have no transportation, no friend that would drive them, no children that would drive them they come on the public transportation,” Barger said.
Another volunteer who has been operating dispatch for the last 13 years said the lack of drivers disables veterans in need.
“Only if we don’t have a driver, but most days we do have a driver and I get calls off and on during the day [for rides],” Robbi Hagen said.
Hagen said they are down to four drivers with one on medical leave.
The van holds nine passengers, costs nothing for veterans and its gas and maintenance are paid for by the V.A. hospital.
“I get to know them now. I see a name on a piece of paper and I put it together with a face and ‘oh this guy is from Desert Hot Springs and he goes in four times a month and people getting cancer treatments.’ It’s important,” Barger said.
Amvets Express is looking for volunteers to drive veterans one day a week.
For more information on how to volunteer, call Tom Hernandez at 760-324-5670.
