Veterans and members of the community alike lined up this past weekend to take part in the quarterly stand-down event hosted by the Valor Clinic Foundation at the Panther Valley Intermediate School lot in Lansford.

Valor, Veterans Assisted Living Outreach, partnered with a variety of organizations dedicated to helping veterans to make the stand down possible including Battle Borne, the Scranton Vet Center and St. Luke’s. Each organization offered different services for the attendees, including clothing, food, informational resources and medical screenings and information.

From 10-11 a.m., veterans and their dependents lined up in their cars to participate in the drive-thru event. Afterward, the event became open to the general public from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The first stop in the drive-thru line was the Valor organization. This area offered a variety of donated jackets, hats, gloves, scarves, socks and blankets for attendees to keep them warm during the cold winter months. Toiletries and personal hygiene products were available as well.

Director of Carbon County Veterans Affairs Christine LeClair said Valor has hosted stand downs like this one in the Panther Valley area for about two years now. This marks the third drive-thru stand down to promote a safe environment during the pandemic.

LeClair also noted the mission statement and scope of Valor as a whole, stating that they offer veteran suicide awareness and prevention services, workshops and retreats and conduct similar stand downs in many regions of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey.

“It’s great when veterans come out so we can identify veterans and if they have any specific needs we’re able to offer referrals and things like that,” LeClair said. “I’m the Director of Veterans Affairs for Carbon County and even in that position I don’t know all the veterans within the county so as long as they come out to us, this is a great way to identify them, find out what their needs are and connect them to resources.”

For more information on Valor and future events, visit www.facebook.com/valorclinic.

The second stop was run by Battle Borne, a veteran organization based in the Lehigh Valley area. At this stop, veterans were offered spaghetti and meatball dinners served with garlic bread as well as fresh fruit, bottled water and juice.

Cadence Yarnell, vice president and co-founder of Battle Borne, said the organization was founded in 2018 to help veterans find resources that they otherwise may not know exist. With her husband, also a co-founder of Battle Borne, being a veteran himself, they noticed that many organizations solely focused on providing limited resources without providing information on how to receive further help that was not available there.

Battle Borne was founded to connect veterans to the services they need, whether provided by Battle Borne themselves or directed to a partner of theirs that would be able to help instead.

Yarnell said, “It’s important to make sure that the community knows that there are people out there willing to help, and a lot of times people don’t know where to go for help. So if there’s an event like this where people can get food, clothes and medical assistance it’s huge for them to have a starting place of knowing where to go.”

Battle Borne will be hosting a recovery walk May 1 in the Lehigh Valley area. For more information on the event as well as Battle Borne as a whole, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/wearebattleborne.

Following this stop, the Scranton Vet Center station offered brochures regarding their organization, which promotes mental health counseling for veterans. Their services provide counseling for post-traumatic stress, marriage and family issues, substance abuse issues, and referrals to other organizations in instances where they do not offer a specific service.

Veterans Outreach Program Specialist Brian Dietrich has worked at the vet center for a year. Originally Dietrich served in the military and utilized the counseling services himself upon returning from the Army. He now promotes counseling to other veterans who may be experiencing problems regarding their mental health.

“I really appreciate events like this to be able to bring everybody together, not just to help veterans but to help people in the community at large,” Dietrich said.

For more information regarding resources for veterans, visit www.vetcenter.va.gov.

The final stop was run by St. Luke’s, which offered Narcan training, health screenings and answers to health questions. They also gave out hand sanitizer, masks and thermometers to encourage attendees to stay safe during the pandemic.

Dr. Greg Dobash of St. Luke’s said, “Narcan is the antidote for an opioid overdose, so there are all sorts of ways that folks could be exposed to an overdose of an opiate-based pain medication or an illegal drug, some of which could be self-imposed, but others are unintended exposure, so this is an important tool in the opiate overdose battle.”

Dobash said the event was important because “I think anything we can do to support folks, especially in the face of the COVID epidemic, any time we can get out and just get some health information to folks is important. Any services we can offer to folks in need is important, especially warm items during this time like hats, gloves, mittens and coats. I just can’t think of anything more important than that right now.”

One of the event’s attendees was Dianne Walck, who had attended events like this one often with her husband in the past, a veteran who served in the Marines. He suddenly passed away Feb. 6 last year, and this stand down is the first she has attended since his passing.

“It’s a big difference and a big adjustment, but I’m glad to see that they take care of the veterans. It’s greatly appreciated,” Walck said.

“I like just how nice everybody is treated, and everybody just treats you with respect. They don’t look down on you and you’re treated like a human being.”

She spoke of her appreciation for Valor, saying, “Keep up the good work, they do phenomenal.”