Phi and quickly gained the confi dence of the Veterans Administration. In 1956, Sally Keach and Gladys Feld Helzberg, with help from the Greater Kansas City chapter of Theta Sigma Phi, established Veterans’ Voices to provide a national outlet for this writing. Today, 100-125 authors’ work appears in each issue, all of it sorted and selected by three volunteer editors. “We’re trying to make ourselves


Artwork on this page and Page 32 by veteran Stephen Gates.


more visible by contacting Voluntary Services Directors in all the hospitals and encouraging them to implement the program,” said Pris Chansky, HVWP Administrative Manager. Contributions from the Auxiliary are


one of the most signifi cant in trying to raise $80,000 for the annual budget, Chansky said.


It costs nearly $10,000 to print one magazine, which is published three times a year and distributed free to VA Hospitals, (5,000), with another 2,000 delivered to donors and subscribers. “We wouldn’t be doing this without the Ladies Auxiliary VFW,” said Chansky, the organization’s sole paid (part-time) staff member. More than 200 Auxiliaries donated funds during the last fi scal year. “The thing that really helps us is getting volunteers in VA facilities,” she said. And they don’t need to be a writer or a teacher. “All it takes is anybody who has empathy, who has a listening ear, who is upbeat and encouraging.” Sandy Cass is a perfect example. A Navy veteran and member of Auxiliary 4287, Orlando, Fla., she calls Veterans’ Voices pure “literary magic.” With decades of varied volunteer experience on her resume, she says: “It’s the most exciting thing I’ve done in years!” Cass founded and fosters the project at the Orlando VAMC,


★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★


“I have come to a place in life where I must look at myself – and live!”


Brenda Hartman VAMC Coatesville, Penn.


where her group of half a dozen writers and volunteer writer’s aides has grown very close. “We’re a family, is what we are,” Cass said.


18 LADIES AUXILIARY VFW MAGAZINE


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