Veterans Service Project a Huge Success at the USBLN® Annual
Conference
As we celebrate our military veterans this Friday, November 11, 2011, and
bow our heads at the 11th hour, let us think about the returning veterans
with apparent and non-apparent disabilities for whom adjustment to civilian
life is over-whelming. Far too many of our heroes are experiencing homelessness
and are living on the streets or are couch-surfing.
On October 17, 2011, following the first day of the USBLN®'s 2011 Annual
Conference, conference attendees and speakers and USBLN® members and
staff joined members of the Kentucky AmeriCorps and the Kentucky Commission
on Community Volunteerism and Service on the "assembly line." We were there
to fill 30 boxes with basic kitchen supplies that included dishes, flatware,
pots and pans and cooking utensils. Following the assembly, the boxes were
delivered to formerly homeless veterans who were moving into a home of their
own. The contents of the boxes were sponsored by Merck and their Veterans
Leadership Network. Merck is a member of the USBLN® and a conference
sponsor who's Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Deborah Dagit,
is a member of the USBLN® Board of Directors. According to Sheila Fesko
with the National Service to Employment Project (sponsored by the Corporation
for National and Community Service) that organized the service project, "This
project allowed us to honor the contribution of our veterans while learning
more about national service and how service can lead to employment for
individuals with disabilities."
In the words of one of the conference attendees, "This was a great experience
working alongside USBLN® colleagues to benefit the local community. The
USBLN® is making a mark here and now." Next year the USBLN® plans
to have an even larger service project during the 2012 Annual Conference.
Veterans Service Project - Photo Gallery
October 17, 2011, Louisville, Kentucky
(Click thumbnail for larger image)
Photo credits: © US Business Leadership Network®
(USBLN®) and Nancy S. Keeler, Training Associate, Institute for Community
Inclusion, University of Massachusetts Boston
View our full 14th Annual Conference & Expo Photo Gallery:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46548817@N04/sets/72157628047836452/
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