Community members walk for homeless veterans

Local veterans held a Walk-A-Thon at Greis Park last Sunday to raise money for homeless veterans.

This was the first time that the Malverne American Legion Auxiliary approached their Lynbrook counterpart to join forces for this event. Participants of the walk were given the opportunity to donate as much money as they wanted and depending on how much they donated, they received an American Legion pin, pen, or other small trinkets. Afterwards, they walked around the field at Greis Park three times.

All of the money at the event was donated to the NY Veterans Affairs. Carol Hassett, president of the Malverne auxiliary, explained that the money will help the rehab centers and nursing homes at the VA and help provide shelter to the homeless veteran population. Hassett noted that this event took place in Malverne for six years with some of the money also going towards the Sons of the American Legion.

The New York State American Legion Auxiliary kicked off this Walk-A-Thon on March 1. The slogan of the event is “They Marched for Us, Let’s Walk for Them” and the goal is for $65,000 to be raised in total. Malverne and Lynbrook auxiliaries made sure to contribute with this year’s walk.

“The monies come in, we take nothing back, and we give it directly to the New York State VA’s and the sons,” Hassett said.

Hassett mentioned that the money will also go towards mental health strength training for the VA’s. She emphasized that veterans could be physically okay, but psychologically they may need help.

“And that’s our main purpose with the event,” Hassett said. “Sometimes we’ve gotten a lot of people, sometimes not, but people walk in and pay a dollar, $5, $10, $25 and it’s wonderful.”

The Malverne American Legion Auxiliary held its first Walk-A-Thon in 2018. The amount of money raised has nearly doubled over the years. Hassett mentioned that one year they raised $600 and the next they raised $1,500.

The money that these Walk-A-Thons raise go towards the four NY Veteran Homes, operated under the NYS Department of Health and one operated by the State University of New York. Also, the funds were given to the 13 VA hospitals and 5 NYS veterans’ nursing homes.

Marie Marinaccio, president of the Lynbrook auxiliary, said that people can help homeless veterans by donating clothes to homeless veterans and veterans living in assisted living facilities. In Lynbrook, there are several opportunities to do so like during Oktoberfest where the money that was collected went directly to homeless veterans. This year’s Walk-A-Thon is just one of the many events that Lynbrook and Malverne host where neighbors can help local veterans.