VOLUNTARY SERVICES PROGRAM

The DAV Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service (VAVS) program is a vital part of the DAV Service Program. This program provides a broad array of services to veterans in all VA medical facilities and has been expanded to help veterans who are being cared for in their homes through the Home Based Health Care programs of the VA. Nationally there are some 8,000 plus volunteers signed up under the DAV VAVS program and some 2,000 plus volunteers signed up under the DAVA VAVS program. Volunteers are With-Out-Compensation (WOC) employees of the VA and have many of the privileges that the paid staff enjoy. The VA also provides them insurance while performing their assigned duties. 

Volunteering is a rewarding way of honoring America's Hero's, our Veterans, the men and women who sacrificed so much to keep our country free. Anyone over the age of 14 can volunteer under the DAV VAVS program. You get individual recognition for the hours you work and the DAV gets credit as well. This is important for the DAV when we are working with Congress on legislative issues concerning veterans. The more hours and the more volunteers the DAV has in the medical centers the more your congressmen listen. 

Have you recently retired? Are you searching for something to occupy your free time? Are you looking for something that is rewarding and fulfilling? Well, then join the DAV VAVS program and use your experience and education to help others. While volunteering you get to set your own schedule, working as many  or as few hours as you like. Come join our team and experience what a difference you can make in some-ones life.

Students who need to volunteer hours in the community for High School Community Service credits are encouraged to join the DAV VAVS program. Students not only get the credits for graduation but gain work experience which can help them on future applications for employment and / or college applications. Recently a former volunteer at the VA Medical Center in Fresno found a job as a Recreation Supervisor at a nursing facility based on the experience she received as a volunteer. DAV also has a scholarship program that High School and College students can compete for based on their hours of volunteer work in the DAV VAVS program. For more information on the Scholarship program, talk to the DAV VAVS Representative at the facility nearest you listed at the bottom of this page.

Volunteers perform a number of different jobs that enhance the services being provided to Veterans who seek their medical care through the VA Health Care system. Working side-by-side with the paid employees at the medical centers, volunteers can be found in almost every service and doing many different tasks such as escorting patients and running errands for the staff, providing clerical assistance to paid employees, and doing layout work for newsletters. Retired nurses have given many hours to fill in for vacations and holidays. The volunteers also serve on committees and boards along with the paid staff, which brings many new and innovative ideas on ways to serve veterans better. Each individual that comes to volunteer is interviewed to find out what talents they have and are matched to services based on how well they can best help the centers. However, if a person wants to learn something new and requests training in an area they have never worked in before, arrangements can be made for the training if it will meet a need for volunteers.

The DAV also has a transportation network that transports veterans to and from their appointments at the medical centers. To date the DAV has donated over 900 vans to the VA nationally which are assigned to the medical center and are driven by volunteers who are trained by DAV Transportation Coordinators. Each year, California's Transportation volunteers transport over 70,000 veterans, traveling more than 1.2 million miles while volunteering over 75,000 hours. Anyone with a valid California driver's license and a good driving record who is over the age of 21, can join this elite group of volunteers. Many veterans who cannot get to the medical centers on their own would go without the much needed medical attention if it wasn't for this outstanding program.

If you have any questions regarding the DAV VAVS program or wish to join this elite group of volunteers you can call your local DAV Department Service Office or the nearest VA Medical Center. Ask them to pass your name on to one of the following VAVS Representatives:

Fresno VAMC:	George H. Steese, Jr.
Livermore VAMC:	Vacant
Loma Linda VAMC:	Larry D. Fredrickson
Long Beach VAMC:	Michael O'Neal
Martinez OPC:	George W. French
Palo Alto VAMC:	Bob Chamberjian
San Diego VAMC:	Randall W. Treadway
San Francisco VAMC:	George Copulos
Santa Barbara OPC:	Gordon Clark
Sepulveda OPC:	Evelyn Veillette
West Los Angeles VAMC:	Larry Ybanez