HANCOCK COUNTY — Once a month, some World War II veterans gather for breakfast and reminiscing. And Kasey Collier is often among those helping serve scrambled eggs and bacon.
Collier’s grandfather served in World War II. He died when she was in seventh grade; years later, to honor him, she began volunteering with Indy Honor Flight. The organization coordinates trips for World War II veterans to travel to Washington, D.C., and see the memorial recognizing their service.
Collier has volunteered with a group of past Honor Flight travelers who met monthly at New Palestine United Methodist Church. The group has since started meeting at Woodland Terrace, but Collier and a few others from the church still go to the senior community to help serve breakfast.
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Several Hancock County churches work to minister to veterans, whether through meeting practical needs or providing opportunities to gather with others who share their experiences.
“Our veterans deserve the world. I wish we could do more for them,” Collier wrote in an email to the Daily Reporter. “Getting together once a month for breakfast and fellowship is so special. It’s wonderful to see the same group month after month and then to add to our family after each of the latest flights.”
Today’s (Nov. 10) meeting will be a special gathering, with Indy Honor Flight and the Indiana Pacers playing host to the breakfast and some Sugar Creek Elementary students performing patriotic songs.
Recognition will also happen this weekend at Church 52 just west of New Palestine. Sunday, the church will honor veterans and welcome retired U.S. Air Force Col. Timothy Cox as guest speaker.
In years past, the church has sent monthly volunteers to paint and clean at apartment buildings for retired veterans through Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation.
Outlook Christian Church in McCordsville has also partnered with the foundation leading up to this Veterans Day to help veterans who are struggling. The congregation donated a huge pile of socks, undergarments and grocery items such as peanut butter, soup, crackers, rice and canned meat.
“They come in by the bagful,” Rob McCord, Outlook’s senior minister, said of the donations. “The response on this has always been very enthusiastic, very generous.”
The church began the annual collection a few years ago, spurred on by some members of the church who had connection to the foundation, McCord said, and the church was happy to help out.
“So often veterans … come back and there’s a lot of needs there. Far too many find themselves without a home. They face poverty and difficult transitions,” McCord said. “This was just a good, compassionate way of sharing some love.
“It can be easy, in the flurry of all the other holidays, to skip right past Veterans Day and the needs of veterans. This seemed like a fitting way to make sure those who sacrificed so much for us aren’t neglected.”
