The West Virginia Legislature recently recognized DAV life member and Army veteran George Davis at the state’s capitol building in Charleston for his volunteerism and civic service. Davis’ volunteering includes benefits advocacy for veterans, writing and speaking about his experiences in Vietnam, and maintaining a veterans lounge at Fairmont State University.

In April, we held the first-ever DAV Community Impact Day. Our goal was to create an opportunity for people across the country to get out into their neighborhoods, towns and cities and serve local veterans, even if it was just for an hour.

The response was more than I could’ve asked for. Not only did hundreds of you pledge your support by signing up at communityimpactday.org, but you also sent us photos, videos and stories of what you did. We shared several of those in the May/June issue of DAV Magazine, but I wanted to personally thank all who participated.

You made a difference, you gave someone hope, you touched the life of a veteran, and that matters. Thank you!

DAV Community Impact Day is going to be an annual event, and I’m excited to see it grow and become a tradition across all our departments, chapters and Auxiliary units.

But there’s another outcome I want to see that I haven’t talked about much yet. I hope DAV Community Impact Day spurs people to volunteer more for veterans. Not just one day a year, but perhaps one day a month or more.

I would love to hear stories about how the experience inspired people—anyone, not just veterans—to seek out more opportunities to get involved. That feeling you got after the difference you made, the hope you gave, the life you positively impacted in one day can become a regular thing.

DAV West Virginia Chapter 45 member George Davis is a great example of what this can look like. He has continued serving after he retired from the Army in 1987 and later from his career as a government contractor. He has volunteered as a chapter commander, as a benefits advocate and on his Department of Veterans Affairs medical center’s advisory council.

George is present in the community, too, marshalling parades and speaking and writing about his experiences in Vietnam. He also created and maintains a veterans lounge at nearby Fairmont State University.

Even though he faces daily challenges associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and exposure to Agent Orange from his service in Vietnam, he continues to find ways to care for other veterans.

He was recently recognized by the West Virginia Legislature for all his work, and that recognition is well deserved. But George will tell you he didn’t do it for the praise; he did it because there are veterans who need our help, and helping is the right thing to do.

Well done, George, and congratulations on this much-deserved recognition!

I realize we are all at different stages in our lives, so ability and availability are going to look different for each of us. Still, I ask that you consider seeking ways to invest your most precious resource—time—into the lives of veterans in need, even if it’s an hour a month.

That way, DAV Community Impact Day can become an ongoing, growing movement that isn’t tied to just one day a year.

We have opportunities and resources at volunteerforveterans.org, including local service opportunities and driving for the DAV Transportation Network, which provides no-cost rides for veterans who can’t drive themselves to their VA medical appointment. Anyone who wants to help can; you don’t have to be a veteran to volunteer with DAV.

Again, thank you for sharing your stories and for all you do for our veterans.