Volunteer or donate

To serve as a regularly scheduled weekly volunteer, please complete the application packet and email it to us, or mail it to our Voluntary Service Office:

Columbia VA Medical Center
Voluntary Service Office
6439 Garners Ferry Road
Columbia, SC 29209
Phone: 803-776-4000 Ext. 56780

After review of your application, we will send you instructions to attend orientation, complete the medical screening, complete the required background investigation. We conduct orientations the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. once you have completed the prerequisite requirements.

Affiliations: If you are a member of a Veteran Service Organization, please consider noting that organization on your application. If you are not a member of an organization, please still consider affiliating with one. While volunteers are not required to affiliate with an organization, we strongly encourage you to select an organization with which to affiliate your hours. Affiliated hours help all related organizations in their endeavors to serve Veterans. Please consider putting an organization of your choice on your application – a list of national organizations with local presence, and their missions, is listed here. Note that you do not have to join an organization to affiliate, and we do not share your contact information with that organization (name and hours only) without your consent.

Our VA Medical Center complies with VHA Directive 1192. This directive requires volunteers who have not obtained the current year’s influenza vaccine to wear a mask during flu season. We also require that all Volunteers be fully COVID-19 Vaccinated. Both vaccines are available to active registered volunteers at no cost.

Are you interested in becoming a Volunteer Transportation Network Driver to help our Nation's finest get to their appointments?

1)  Complete the health prescreening checklist and if you have any disqualifying conditions, contact us.

2)  Complete a voluntary application, save it to your local computer and email it and your prescreening checklist to us, or mail, or deliver in person.

3)  CALL US at 803-776-4000 x56780 to schedule your physical. We will confirm we have your application and prescreen checklist, so please make sure you’ve sent that in first.

4)  Please complete the Volunteer Driver training. Links are below. We only need the first page (Driver Training Certification form) printed and signed, then returned to us by scan, or regular mail. Thanks for your continued service to our Veterans.

•Driver Training Certification

•Fleet Card Training

•Driver Safety Training

•DAV Handbook 

5)  If you need a copy of your SC driving record, please visit the link below.

South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles - Obtain your Certified Driver Record

 The 3-year unofficial copy you can get online is fine (save yourself a trip to the DMV!).

6)  When your have a scheduled physical, please open the online general volunteer orientation in PDF format. At the end of the orientation, you will find a link to the assessment and completion certificates. Please complete both and bring them with you to your appointment at the Columbia VA Medical Center.

•Things to bring to your appointment:

•Two forms of ID (driver’s license and social security card are ideal – for all ID options, call us.)

•The completed general orientation certificate and assessment in step 6.

•Insurance card and driver’s license.

•Your driver training certification in step 4.

•Driving record in step 5.

At your appointment, we’ll also initiate your background check and TB test (two more short forms we’ll provide here.) While the interview is short, the fingerprint, physical exam, and TB test processes can take about two hours – please plan your visit accordingly.

NOTE - Volunteers must have NO known HISTORY or DIAGNOSIS of the following medical conditions: EPILEPSY (seizure disorder), SYNCOPE (blacking or passing out within the last 1 year), HEART ATTACK (within the last 1 year), VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIAS (excluding random premature ventricular contractions), IMPLANTABLE CARDIOVERTER DEFIBRILLATOR (ICD), COMPLETE HEART BLOCK, USE OF CONTAINERIZED OXYGEN, STROKE and ACTIVE TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACKS (TIA’S), MENIERS DISEASE (active inner ear disease causing a balance disorder), and INTRA-ATRIAL CONDUCTION DELAY (IACD). These are considered absolute disqualifiers for volunteer drivers.

If you would like to provide an online donation to help with utility payments, food, clothing, shelter and transportation assistance, we accept check and credit card donations. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs administrative costs are appropriated so donors can be 100% certain their donations will go directly to Veteran patients. To contribute to our General Programming, please:

• CLICK HERE

• Click “CONTINUE TO FORM"

• Select Columbia VA Health Care System and choose GENERAL PURPOSE in the “Program for Donation” drop-down menu.

In our ever-changing environment, we recognize that the needs of our Veteran patients are dynamic. So, we encourage you to view our most current Wish Lists. 

All donations may be sent directly to us at the following address or dropped off at the Columbia VA Hospital and we will ensure they are distributed according to the needs of our Outpatient Clinics, Veteran Centers and Veteran patients.

Columbia VA Medical Center
Voluntary Service Office
6439 Garners Ferry Road
Columbia, SC 29209
Phone: 803-776-4000 Ext. 56780

If you prefer to drop off your donations, call us in advance and we can meet you outside to collect your items

We are so grateful for your donations; however, there are some items we can't accept. These include (but are not limited to):

• Used clothing
• Used items (with the exception of paperback books)
• Medical equipment