I am the one, camouflage and guns,
Risk my life to keep my people from harm.
Authority vested in me,
I sacrifice with my brothers in arms.

                “Hammerhead”, The Offspring, 2008

Our service men and women protect our freedoms while sacrificing their own comfort. For some, it means returning home to a weak economy. Others might become homeless. That’s why the volunteers of the Veterans Support Organization (VSO) collect money to support our veterans. (SEE VIDEO)

I followed volunteers Danielle Haggard and Crystal Adams to the intersection of Route 441 and Glades Road in Boca Raton, FL.  Across the street, I could see Michael Cittadino with another volunteer, Jon Allen. Then I could see a police car. And then I saw the lights come on.

“Jon got arrested,” Crystal said to Danielle, somewhat panicked.

“They can’t arrest him!” Danielle quipped with fire.

Crystal’s eyes squinted to get a better view of the action across the intersection. “No, Jon’s not arrested. He’s got his binder out.” Jon presented a binder of permits and certifications to the police officer. The cop car left and we all convened on the same corner to get the skinny on what just went down.

“This is a state road, so we can’t get a permit here,” Jon told the group. Apparently, there had been some confusion about whether or not the group was authorized to collect donations at this spot. We packed up, and I rode with the group to their new (and less controversial) spot at the intersection of Sample Road and Powerline Road in Pompano Beach, FL.

I cannot begin to describe to you the heat of the sun radiating from the concrete as you stand in the median of a busy road. With the sweat on my back making my shirt feel like it was a size too small, I pondered the dedication these volunteers had to be out in the heat for many more hours than me – and in army boots and fatigues! How much like our actual military they are, I thought. I mean, first of all, they’re all volunteers. They’re all dressed in uniform. They’re putting themselves in danger, collecting money in traffic, for the benefit of others they may never know or see. And they’re banded together as a unit, “brothers (and sisters) in alms”, defending each other. (If you don’t get it, it’s okay).

 
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Eleven years ago Richard VanHouten founded the VSO in Rhode Island. VSO has since found a home in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Georgia, and yes, in Lauderhill, Florida. Richard, himself a veteran of our Armed Forces, told me he started the 501C3 shortly after being injured at work. “I went from working twelve hours a day plus to not working at all. I started doing it because I was lying around, doing nothing. I was going crazy.” Richard says he ran into a veteran who was raising money. Richard started to work with him, and soon enough had founded Veterans Support Organization, his own non-profit.

According to Richard, one in three homeless adults has served in the Armed Forces. And with the present state of our economy, he doesn’t think that the worst is over. “It’s tough for them to adapt. It’s tough for them to come back to work. Statistics are that one out of three [homeless adults] are veterans. It’s a shame that I even have to say that.”

In May the South Florida chapter of VSO donated $47,000 to local Veterans Affairs hospitals, despite having only a small group of 25 volunteers working for him. Not all of Richard’s volunteers are veterans themselves, which sometimes draws criticism.  But Richard defends his volunteers, saying that you don’t have to be a veteran to serve veterans. In fact, Richard is happy to have as many volunteers as he does.

“With the way the economy is, people don’t have time to volunteer for these groups. Years ago, husbands and wives got together and baked and sold cookies. That volunteering time is not available anymore. People give what they can. When they see somebody out there, they donate as long as they know the group is legitimate.” And trust me, after the scandals surrounding 9/11 charities, Richard and his volunteers go to great lengths to inform people about where their donations go.

Michael Cittadino, a VSO volunteer and Afghanistan veteran, explained some of the procedures that VSO goes through to make sure that the money collected for the veterans gets to them. “There’s counter surveillance on all of the volunteers. [Our collection buckets] are zip-tied closed. If the bucket’s tampered with in any way, the volunteers know they get fined.” All of the volunteers carry a book of permits and certifications to show potential donors that they are legitimate if necessary. That book of permits and certifications also comes in handy with the police, as I saw firsthand.

For more, check out my video!