Margaret Bender is the blanket chair for General Needs. She also assists with distributions. For Margaret, it all started with a yarn drive to make blankets for vets. Margaret volunteers with General Needs because she loves the vets. Her father and grandfather are veterans. She believes that we all hit rock bottom at some point in our lives and we all need an opportunity to start over.
Some of Margaret’s favorite memories are the BBQs at Bayshore and the family atmosphere that they created. She enjoys giving the vet that came in with nothing, the basic necessities and knowing that “the little bag we give you don’t realize how far it truly goes.”
Margaret appreciates the relationship building with vets when you first meet them. She remembers setting up the Christmas tree and initially the veterans didn’t want to participate, but by the end they were hanging up ornaments.
Another memory that Margaret has is when a vet had dental work. The vet was unable to eat the food that they brought so she went out to get mashed potatoes so he would have something to eat. The vet is still grateful to her when she sees the vet.
Overall, Margaret volunteers with General Needs because she likes to help them start a new chapter in their lives.
