CDCE Changing Lives by Meeting Veterans' Immediate Needs

Whether a Veteran needs clothes, food, recreation or human connection, CDCE serves as a vital resource and lifeline helping countless Veterans and their families. Formerly known as Voluntary Service and dating back to 1946, the CDCE is the branch of VA that funnels donations directly into the hands of Veterans in need.

“My primary focus is the care and needs of our Veterans,” said Acting CDCE Chief Pamela Keith of the program’s commitment to serving Veterans.

In addition to this frontline work, the dedicated CDCE staff also hosts recreational experiences for Veterans, trains and manages all VA volunteers, provides general support for the Medical Center (including all Ambulatory Care Centers and Community-Based Outpatient Clinics or CBOCS) and controls General Post Funds (GPF), which are funds earmarked by donors to provide specific services to Veterans.

Creating Community Through Events

Probably the most publicly visible work done by the CDCE involves the full calendar of events they host for Veterans, both on and off the West LA VA campus and in partnership with different community organizations.

This includes barbecues, monthly salute to service events, holiday parties, drive-thru pantries and numerous others, all staffed by CDCE employees and volunteers. (Veterans can call the office for more info at (310) 268-4350.)

Concierge Manager Myra Valle was on-site at a recent drive-thru pantry. “I was fortunate enough to greet everyone that was coming in, so I had a conversation with them; people were in tears,” she said. “People were so grateful and thankful just to see all these tables lined up filled with items … they were just utterly shocked because they weren’t expecting that.”

Community partners for these events include Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs), Brentwood School, the American Red Cross, UCLA, Village for Vets, Elks Lodges across the region and many others.

“The CDCE means hope to the Veteran community,” said Diana Boyd, service to the armed forces and international services regional director for the American Red Cross. “I experienced this firsthand at our bedside visits with the Veterans. They truly appreciate having a visitor, bringing them a Red Cross comfort kit, a holiday card, or teddy bear. It’s our small way of showing our appreciation to them and thanking them for their service.”

In December 2022, CDCE volunteers collected and handed out an estimated $10,000 worth of donations to Veterans living or receiving treatment at the West LA VA at a single event! This included bikes, gift cards, clothing, books, hygiene kits, pet supplies, as well as tamales and baked goods.

Nationally, volunteers have provided over 760 million hours of service and nearly $1.9 billion in gifts and donations since the inception of Voluntary Service.

Meeting a Veteran’s Needs

The process of serving an individual Veteran typically starts with a social worker. As soon as that person identifies a Veteran’s needs, the request is sent to the CDCE and goes directly to Keith, who fields over 100 requests per week.

These requests come not only from the West LA VA, but from other locations including downtown, Sepulveda, Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, Lancaster, and Santa Maria.

Keith addresses each request with special attention. “We have a lot of Veterans that are homeless that come in … many don’t have anything,” Keith said. “CDCE puts in much effort to accommodate every single request.”

“I have a Veteran at home; my husband was in the service and if he was in this situation I would want him to get the same care,” she said.

Donations are curated from what the CDCE has on site and in storage, and the team is also able to purchase requested items.

For those who want to donate to CDCE, the office is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Building 258, Room 124 on the West LA VA campus. Donations are accepted between 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and  can also be made online. For those who want to donate items, the most requested are men’s and women’s clothing, sizes small through 3X, as well as toiletry bags, backpacks, towels, and blankets.

Bringing Gifts and Good Cheer

In addition to giving out donations, the CDCE has different programs designed to meet a Veteran’s unique needs. “It’s not just gifts and clothing requests, we have so many different things that we do to accommodate our Veterans,” Keith said.

Bedside visits, for example, bring gifts and good cheer to Veterans who are in the hospital. Safe Way Home provides Veterans with transportation to medical procedures.

Recreation Specialist Carrie Brandlin has been working with VA for 37 years. She leads the Bedside Visits, social activities, barbecues, bingos and takes Veterans on leisure outings in the community, including sailing trips and museum visits. “Recreational therapy is a big motivator for Veterans to change their unhealthy leisure skills into positive, healthy leisure activities,” she said.

Then there’s the Compassionate Contact Corps, an outreach program that started during COVID when many Veterans were feeling isolated. The program connects each Veteran with a like-minded volunteer who does a weekly check-in call.

Valle says it’s uplifting to witness the connections that these calls create, especially given what the Veterans may be going through. “Sometimes it could be depression or just could be loneliness, so it just kind of boosts their moral, gives them a sense of joy to have somebody call them on a weekly basis to check up on them,” she said.

Veterans Helping Veterans

Some of the Veterans who’ve been helped by CDCE have turned around to give their time as volunteers. Two such individuals are Air Force Veteran Douglas Bell and Army Veteran Rebecca Marcus.

Bell believes the CDCE’s efforts make it easier for Veterans to accept assistance through the VA. “If you learn to recreate, get clothes, get food, you get more comfortable with the facility itself and you can accept this help,” he said.

Marcus is grateful to the CDCE for helping her in times of need, and now she’s paying it forward.

“When somebody does that for you as a patient, you know how good it feels,” she said. “So, you want to make certain that other people have that same experience.”

For anyone who wants to volunteer with the CDCE, there’s an online form that starts the process.

Spreading the Word for Those in Need

Above all else, the CDCE team wants people to know how much their program has to offer Veterans, and how impactful these volunteer efforts, events, activities, and donations can be. Thrice-weekly bingo, for example, is about much more than calling numbers.

“People are like, ‘oh it’s just bingo.’ No, it’s not just bingo,” Valle said. “It’s the relationships that are there and that’s the most important. You’re talking about mental health, you’re talking about communication … it’s not just an event, it’s not just a game. There’s so much more to it.”

“And sometimes it’s all that they’re looking forward to, is that Tuesday bingo,” CDCE Program Assistant Dorothy Williams said. “It may sound small, to us, but it’s very important to them.”

The CDCE’s efforts often mean long hours for Keith and her committed staff. But they’re more than happy to be doing the work. “The sacrifice the Veterans here have put forth, none of my actions would be able to replace that,” Keith said. “The reason I do what I do is because it makes me feel like I’m giving back.”