When it was getting started in 2012, the nonprofit Volunteers That Care (VTC) came to American Legion Post 192 in Coudersport, Pa., to ask for help. VTC had set out on a mission of raising money to assist cancer patients in Potter County in getting to and from their treatments by providing those patients gas cards.
Members of Post 192 liked what VTC had planned. But …
“They had no money,” Post 192 Adjutant Ted Parsell said. “So, they proposed this, and at that time we were doing very well financially at (Post 192). We felt this organization, from the ground up, was going to – and did, from the very get-go – a fantastic job helping our cancer patients. We gave them seed money of $10,000 to get them started.”
In the close to 10 years since then, VTC has helped close to 80 cancer patients get to and from their appointments in an area where there aren’t a lot of options. The Patterson Cancer Center at UPMC Cole, a hospital located in Coudersport, offers some cancer treatment services but does not provide radiation treatment.
“There’s quite a bit of distance you have to travel here (for radiation treatments),” Post 192 Commander Bob Pryslak said. “There’s Williamsport and Oleona, a bunch of traveling, because there’s nothing here local.”
In need of some additional funding, representatives of VTC recently reached out to Post 192 again, asking to speak at the post’s monthly meeting. And in January, the post presented Volunteers That Care with a check for $5,000 – a large amount, considering the most VTC has given away in one year is around $10,000.
Parsell said VTC’s mission has made an impact on a handful of Post 192’s members. “I think there were nine or 10 (members) at the meeting, and five of us have taken benefit of that program, in our case with our spouses,” he said. “We felt it was only right that we give back into it and help them reestablish the program and get going again.”
Assisting those in Coudersport and Potter County is a priority for Post 192. “We’re helping out the community. We give to anyone in the community that needs a little helping hand,” Pryslak said. “We sponsor a trap-shooting team at (Coudersport High School). That’s what we’re about … to help the community in any way we can.”
Post 192 also has stepped up to assist Veterans That Care in another way. The organization had lost its meeting space when the area hospital changed ownership hands, so Post 192 has opened up its door to allow VTC to use its banquet hall for their meetings.
“We will continue to do this on a regular basis,” Parsell said. “We have a couple of organizations we support … that cater to wounded warriors. We’re going to do (an American Legion) birthday dinner on March 19, and we cater to about 120 veterans and their guests.
“Our motto is, ‘We served our country. Now we serve our community.’ And the community is everybody: seniors, kids, groups like this Volunteers That Care. They’re all a part of our community. We’re not only helping veterans, but the rest of the community as well.”
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February 10, 2022 at 06:55AM
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Pennsylvania Legion post helps fund local nonprofit assisting cancer patients - The American Legion
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