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GIVING BACK TO THE VA'S "COFFEE LADY" -- She not only

kept the pots full of hot gourmet coffee and handed out

pastries, but lent an ear and a ready smile to weary,

lonely or scared veterans seeking medical care.

 

 

Story here... http://www.paloaltodaily
news.com/article/2007-7-5-sm-honor

Story below:

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Many gather to revive home of VA volunteer

Suzanne Bohan / MediaNews

 

Over the past four decades, Ruth Chandler has tallied up 10,000 volunteer hours inside the Menlo Park and Palo Alto Veterans Affairs medical centers.

That's worth $187,700 in today's wages, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Chandler, 87, has also earned a wealth of affection from patients, staff and fellow volunteers during her years running the Patient Coffee Service in the medical centers.

She not only kept the pots full of hot gourmet coffee, shipped in from Holland, and handed out day-old pastries donated by local cafes and grocery stores, but lent an ear and a ready smile to weary, lonely or scared veterans seeking medical care.

"She's the cream of earth," said Michael Armijo, another VA volunteer. "She's the matriarch of volunteers. She's just so well loved it's hard to describe."

On Wednesday, more than 40 volunteers gave back to Chandler, by painting her three-bedroom home a shade of pale blue, installing new light fixtures and staining her redwood fence.

"It looks better than before," said an appreciative Chandler of the home she's lived in since 1956, when it was surrounded by cherry and prune trees. "It's real nice."

Her husband, a World War II veteran, used to keep up the home, but he passed away in 1991, and the home hadn't been painted in about 25 years, she said. Her two daughters and her son live in California, along with grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and members of her family were also on hand to help Wednesday.

The volunteers, said Armijo, gave their time in commemoration of a triumvirate of causes - Independence Day, independent living and members of the military who gave their time and lives protecting the country.

"It was quite a conglomeration of like-minded efforts," said Armijo, a Mountain View landscaper who organized the Fourth of July volunteer event.

The majority of the volunteers were affiliated with the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, which comprises three medical centers in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Livermore and six outpatient clinics.

Volunteers from the Salvation Army, to which Chandler also donates her time, arrived to help out, too.

The event was supported by donations from several organizations, including Lowe's Home Improvement, California Paint Company and Ace Hardware, said Armijo, as well as private donations. One family, he added, provided the 1,800 water balloons tossed at a barbecue held after the work was finished.

Chandler began volunteering at the Menlo Park VA more than four decades ago.
About 17 years ago, she then switched to giving her time at the Palo Alto facility, although she still returns to the Menlo Park facility, visiting nursing home patients, as part of her Salvation Army work.

She speaks with pride and pleasure of her work in the Patient Coffee Service, where lines often form outside the first-floor room before it opens at 7:35 a.m. Monday through Friday.

"We go through as many as 200 or 300 cups," she said, during the four hours the coffee room is open. "Some of them have to go without eating all night, because they have to get tests. They really appreciate the coffee and doughnuts." Some, Armijo added, don't have the money to go to the hospital's cafeteria.

She began volunteering because she had time on her hands, she said, and because her husband encouraged her to donate time to the VA.

"Over the years, I've just enjoyed it so much, it's hard to stop," Chandler said.

Chandler is one of more than 140,000 volunteers that VA administrators praise as providing an invaluable element of care to veterans visiting its facilities. The VA volunteer program began in 1946, and is now one of the largest volunteer programs organized by the federal government.

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Larry Scott  --