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Stand Down will give homeless vets a helping hand By PAUL FATTIG WHITE CITY - Veterans who served their nation in the past but now find themselves homeless will be offered a helping hand at Stand Down '01. The 10th-annual event to help down-and-out veterans begins Friday. The three-day Stand Down, military jargon for a respite from a hostile environment, will be held in the baseball park at the Department of Veterans Affairs Domiciliary. Although the event is aimed at helping veterans, it will be dedicated to those who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, said Mark Brown, a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War and one of the Stand Down committee organizers. "Any kind of event happening this week is kind of untimely but we feel we owe it to the veterans to go on with the event," Brown said. "We want homeless veterans to know we'll be there for them." Organized and funded by volunteers, the event will offer the veterans food, clothing, medical attention, legal help, shelter, jobs and counseling. The only such event in the state, it's expected to draw about 600 homeless veterans from throughout Oregon and Northern California. Volunteer Ed Mazza, who is coordinating transportation for many homeless veterans, has arranged for van pickups in Portland, Eugene, Grants Pass, Klamath Falls and Crescent City, Calif. The non-profit event depends on volunteers and donations from individuals or businesses to meet expenses. For instance, U.S. Cellular Corp. will offer the homeless veterans free telephone use to allow them to talk with family and friends across the nation. The free wireless service will be offered from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The firm will pick up the cost of all long distance charges as well as provide assistance in placing the calls in the program it calls VALOR (Veterans and Loved Ones Reconnect). Social service groups and agencies lending a hand this year include the Lions Sight and Hearing Mobile, Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, Oregon Employment Department, Jackson-Josephine County Bar Association, the Social Security Administration, the federal Department of Veterans Affairs and many local food and shelter groups in Jackson County. But more volunteers and services are needed. Anyone wanting to volunteer for the Stand Down or contribute in-kind goods or services should contact event organizer Madeleine Fabris at 899-1935. Those wishing to help financially can donate by contributing to any branch of U.S. Bank, where a fund for the Stand Down has been established. For more information on Stand Down '01, check out the Web site at www.southernoregonstanddown.com. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.