The Harrison County Community Educational Outreach Service organization did not let the coronavirus pandemic stop it from fulfilling its annual outreach to the VA Hospital as the members kicked off CEOS Week in West Virginia by donating more than $1,000 in personal hygiene and comfort items to the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center.

 

Using social distancing measures, the CEOS members drove up to a table set up in the Harrison County Parks and Recreation office parking lot where VA and West Virginia University Extension staff, wearing gloves and masks, would unload the vehicles. Members donated such items as lap blankets, hygiene items, puzzles, DVDs, notebooks, fidget quilts for Alzheimer's patients, and snack items for those veterans traveling by bus to Pittsburgh for appointments.

 

Some of the hygiene items are used by the veterans who are admitted to the hospital unexpectedly and do not have these daily care items, which alleviates a lot of frustration for those out-of-town patients who do not have the same access to these items as the local veterans. This particular community service outreach mission has been staged by the CEOS for more than a decade and is used to offer gratitude to those who have served in the armed forces.

 

"They are just near and dear to all of our hearts because we all have veterans in our families and friends," said Patricia Rummel, the CEOS' Health Motivator and Shinn's Run CEOS president, and a U.S. Army veteran herself. 

 

The CEOS also collected items to be used in this summer's Energy Express program, which is done in collaboration between the WVU Extension Service and the Harrison County Parks and Recreation Department. 

 

"We contribute to an awful lot of organizations," Rummel said. 

 

The Harrison County CEOS organization is made up for 17 clubs and about 300 members scattered throughout the county. The CEOS is part of the programming sponsored by the West Virginia University Extension Service. To join a club or for more information about the CEOS, contact the Harrison County office at 304-624-8650.

 

The programs and activities offered by the WVU Extension Service are available to all persons without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran status, political beliefs, sexual orientation, national origin, and marital or family status. When registering for these programs, please designate any special access or dietary needs three weeks prior. The information given herein is supplied with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Cooperative Extension Service is implied.

 

 

Editor’s Note:The Harrison County Community Educational Outreach Service donated more than $1,000 worth of hygiene, comfort, and entertainment items to the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in celebration of CEOS Week in West Virginia. From left to right are VA Public Affairs Officer Wesley Walls, CEOS Health Motivator and Shinn's Run president Patricia Rummel, and VA Voluntary Services Specialist Jeannine Romano. Submitted photo.